Italy. SLAPP against an environmentalist that defends hedgehogs in Faenza

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The protected animal species risks extinction – A construction company warns the blogger Cinzia Savioli and demands €50,000 in damages – Ossigeno provides legal assistance 

OSSIGENO – November 30^th  2024 – Cinzia Savioli, a blogger from Faenza (Ravenna), a well-known environmental activist, has rejected an arbitrary request for compensation from a construction company that on February 8^th 2024 asked her to pay within eight days 50,000 euro for alleged financial and reputational  damage. The compensation was requested in a registered letter which emphasized that in the event of non-compliance, legal action would be taken against her.

The damage, according to the construction company, was caused by the blogger’s public statements challenging  the implementation methods of the “Ghilana” building renovation project, which involves the demolition and reconstruction of some old buildings located on Via Firenze in Faenza.

The proposed works, Cinzia Savioli claimed, as other environmentalists also claim, put at risk the survival of a colony of wild hedgehogs, a protected animal species considered at risk of extinction in Western Europe, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an NGO based in Gland in Switzerland recognized among UN observers, because the “destruction of rural habitats through the intensification of agriculture, roads and urban development is leading to a decline in the hedgehog”. (see here)

Cinzia Savioli and other environmentalists have long been committed to protecting the colony of hedgehogs that lives in the buildings to be demolished and in their subsoil. The hedgehogs, they claim, have found in those places a favourable and suitable natural environment to build their burrows and hibernacula that, if the construction project were to be completed as planned, would be swept away, compromising their survival.

Cinzia Savioli’s initiatives have raised awareness among local public opinion and have  stimulated a debate also within the Faenza City Council, where a question on the issue was addressed to the municipal councillor for the environment. And there have been interventions to monitor and control the situation by the forestry police.

Ossigeno per l’Informazione believes that the blogger has correctly exercised the right to critically express her thoughts on a current issue of general interest on which a public discussion is underway in Faenza. Ossigeno also believes that this demand  for compensation for damages, of a significantly large amount without any evidence of the alleged damage suffered and without any judge having ascertained her responsibility, risks turning into an illegitimate restriction on the right that every individual has to freely express their opinions on delicate and sensitive current issues such as respect for the environment and the protection of wild fauna. In this case, the imbalance between the parties is evident: between a formally organised and financially  strong company and a single activist who works with volunteers to disseminate ideas and opinions on issues of important public interest and is challenged with serious and unfounded accusations. For these reasons, the demand for compensation appears reckless. Therefore, the Legal Help Desk of Ossigeno has decided to support Cinzia Savioli’s arguments and has entrusted her legal defence to the lawyer Andrea Di Pietro. 

WHO IS SHE?  – Cinzia Savioli is an environmental communicator and activist. She carries out voluntary work in the Ravenna area, in particular within the area of the Municipality of Faenza. Through social media channels, she promotes respect for animals, environmental protection and the survival of wildlife in the face of the progressive urbanization and concreting over of green areas. 

THE ACCUSATIONS – Among the blogger’s initiatives disputed by the construction company authorized by the Municipality of Faenza to execute  the “Ghilana” development project are a video statement released on social media and an interview given to the newspaper Faenza Web TV, in which Savioli opposed the progressive subdivision of the Ghilana park in Faenza, a natural area of ​​exceptional beauty and a green lung for the entire town. Moreover , in these contributions Cinzia Savioli did not explicitly mention the company allegedly offended by her words, nor did she accuse it of illegality, but limited herself to stating that in her opinion the construction activity objectively risks endangering the lives of hundreds of hedgehogs settled under the walls to be demolished. ASP