An Italian court has ordered a journalist to pay the country’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni damages of €5,000 (£4,208) for mocking her height.
Journalist Giulia Cortese, was also given a suspended fine of €1,200 (£1,010) for a jibe on Twitter in October 2021 about Ms Meloni’s height, which was deemed “bodyshaming”.
Ms Meloni took legal action in a Milan court against Cortese after the two women clashed on social media, local media reported.
The politician, whose far-right Brothers of Italy party was in opposition at the time, took exception when Ms Cortese published a mocked-up photo of her with a picture of the late fascist leader Benito Mussolini in the background.
The journalist responded with further tweets including one that translates as “you don't scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you're only 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall. I can't even see you.”
The Prime Minister’s height is around 1.6m tall on various media websites.
Ms Cortese can appeal against the sentence, and Ms Meloni's lawyer said the prime minister would donate to charity any damages she eventually receives.
A high number of lawsuits brought against journalists was cited this year by Reporters Without Borders, which relegated Italy five places to 46th in its 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
The right-wing politician is not new to taking journalists to court.
Last year a Rome court fined best-selling author Roberto Saviano €1,000 plus legal expenses after he insulted her on television in 2021 over her hardline stance on illegal immigration.
Previously, journalists at Italian state broadcaster RAI went on strike in May in protest against the "suffocating control" over their work by Meloni's government.
