Offence to the honour of the Head of State by the vulgar phrase under the photo of Sergio Mattarella

The offence of offence to the honour and prestige of the Head of State was committed for the vulgar phrase posted on his own Facebook profile under the photo of President Sergio Mattarella. TheCassazione (Supreme Court) has thus confirmed the conviction of a assistant chief of police, who had used a "blameworthy and vulgar" expression on the social site to comment on the news of the convocation ofMario Draghi for the appointment of Prime Minister. For the Supreme Court there was no doubt, given the tenor of the sentence and its placement under the President's photograph, that the insult was aimed precisely at the Head of State. Thus, there is a conviction for violation of Article 278 of the Penal Code, which punishes with imprisonmentfrom one to five years for insulting the honour and prestige of the President.

A rule placed to protect both personal dignity and institutional function. The judges of legitimacy denied the defendant the possibility of benefiting from the rule on the particular tenuity of the fact. Because 'the repetition of blameworthy and vulgar comments - whoever is the addressee - is indicative of the fact that the action,' reads the sentence, 'does not take place in a context of mere occasionality, but is expressive of the intentional propensity to exceed the limits set by the law to protect the expressive continence and dignity of persons.

The professional quality of the appellant, an assistant chief of the State Police, also contributed to the particular intensity of the intent. "He who, by profession, is confronted daily with the application of the law, and of the criminal law in particular," the judges write, "certainly has an awareness of the disvalour of the conduct that is different and more intense than the quisque de populo".