Overview

• Matteo Salvini affirmed he would not withdraw the 2018 defamation suit over Saviano’s label “minister of evil” and insisted the term harmed his reputation as a minister and citizen.
• Roberto Saviano confronted Salvini during the courtroom handshake by calling on him to “shame on you,” underscoring the high tensions.
• Saviano defended his planned use of the phrase coined by Gaetano Salvemini as a legitimate form of political critique.
• Salvini cited his record as interior minister, noting 51 fugitive arrests and €3.8 billion in mafia asset seizures between 2018 and 2019.
• The trial will continue in November as both sides prepare to argue the limits of political speech and defamation.