Elkann sues the 'Porta a Porta' drones. And files an application for a review in Turin

John Elkann's lawyers announced a lawsuit against RAI 'for unlawful interference in his private life through the use of drones'. A statement signed by lawyers Paolo Siniscalchi, Federico Cecconi and Carlo Re states that 'in recent days a television crew occupied a private space belonging to John Elkann's private home in Turin in order to take video footage using a drone'.

According to the lawyers, 'as subsequently emerged, the filming was carried out for the programme Porta a Porta. In view of this unjustifiable intrusion into our client's private life, which was furthermore carried out by State TV, and in order to protect his privacy and that of his family, which also includes three minors, we are today announcing a lawsuit against all those responsible, warning the editorial staff of Porta a Porta not to repeat similar behaviour, and not to use in any way any image thus obtained'.

In recent weeks, media attention has been drawn to the legal dispute involving the Agnelli-Elkann family. In this regard, the lawyers affirm that 'faced with the current climate of media aggression that exceeds the boundaries of the right to report news and criticism, John, Lapo and Ginevra Elkann have given us the mandate to protect their reputations through appropriate legal initiatives, warning anyone against the dissemination of untruthful and defamatory articles and press reports'.

Porta a Porta's reply came close on the heels: 'The filmmaker of the programme, who has a regular flying licence, stopped filming after being invited by the Elkann house security. Those images,' the note goes on to say, 'did not and will not go on air. Moreover, the Privacy Guarantor clarified in a note of September 2021 that the use of images taken by drones for journalistic purposes, even without the consent of the interested parties, is legitimate, subject to obvious precautions such as not filming people, number plates and other identifying elements. In any case, having registered the dissent of Elkann security, we avoided transmitting the images'.

Meanwhile, the lawyers of John Elkann and accountant Gianluca Ferrero filed a petition today in court in Turin for a re-examination against the new seizure ordered in recent days by the public prosecutor's office as part of the investigation into the inheritance of Marella Caracciolo, widow of lawyer Gianni Agnelli. This has been learnt from authoritative sources. A similar measure had been presented by the same lawyers after the first seizure decree and the Court of Re-examination had ordered the release of part of the material. The public prosecutor's office of the capital of Piedmont had then ordered the re-seizure with another decree.