La Court of Cassation has decided to dismiss the appeal lodged by Henry Rizzi, animal rights activist and president of the Italian Animal Protection Operational Unit (NOTE). Rizzi has long been sentenced by the Court of Trento to two months of imprisonment and to compensate 30mila euros for a defamation of which he became the protagonist online. In fact, in 2014, he commented on the death of Diego Moltrer, president of the Trentino Alto Adige Regional Council, hit by a heart attack during a hunting trip.
Rizzi wrote this sentence on Facebook: "Infamous, now you know what it means to die ...". The disconcerted reactions were immediate, especially by Moltrer's family, who filed a complaint. Incidentally, the animalist never backed down after writing those words.
La repetition of the conduct was decisive for the ruling of the judges of Piazza Cavour. The president of NOITA had immediately judged the sentence excessive, defining the compensation demanded by the judges as "monstrous". In that case the comment of the animalist was heavy: "There is no condemnation that holds, that can stop me, or make me change my mind. Hunting is horror".