"You are nobody!" is slander in Italy
ROME (Reuters) - A driver who told a parking attendant "You are nobody!" has felt the weight of Italy's legal system, which ruled the seemingly innocuous words constituted slander -- and fined him heavily.
The tiff over a parking space led to Giulio C. being fined 300 euros (200 pounds) plus 500 euros legal costs when a court in the northeast city of Trieste turned down his appeal.
The court ruled the phrase 'you are nobody' "means precisely 'you are a nonentity' and to state that a person is a nonentity is certainly offensive because it is damaging to the dignity of a person."
The decision led celebrated Corriere della Sera commentator Beppe Severgnini to recall in his column on Friday that this was not the first time Italian appeal courts had deliberated on the definition of slander.
Indeed, over the years a sort of "guide to legitimate offence" has been formulated and Severgnini, quoting the courts, gave a few of the more common examples.
"Ball-breaker" is not slander because although "an undoubtedly rude expression it is now in common usage."
"I'll kick your arse" also passes muster because this is a "robust reaction which should be understood in a figurative way."
Under Italian law, the crime of slander is punishable by a maximum fine of 516 euros.
The tiff over a parking space led to Giulio C. being fined 300 euros (200 pounds) plus 500 euros legal costs when a court in the northeast city of Trieste turned down his appeal.
The court ruled the phrase 'you are nobody' "means precisely 'you are a nonentity' and to state that a person is a nonentity is certainly offensive because it is damaging to the dignity of a person."
The decision led celebrated Corriere della Sera commentator Beppe Severgnini to recall in his column on Friday that this was not the first time Italian appeal courts had deliberated on the definition of slander.
Indeed, over the years a sort of "guide to legitimate offence" has been formulated and Severgnini, quoting the courts, gave a few of the more common examples.
"Ball-breaker" is not slander because although "an undoubtedly rude expression it is now in common usage."
"I'll kick your arse" also passes muster because this is a "robust reaction which should be understood in a figurative way."
Under Italian law, the crime of slander is punishable by a maximum fine of 516 euros.
Man was raised by chickens
Social workers in Fiji are trying to rehabilitate a 32-year-old man they say was raised by chickens.
The man was locked in a chicken coop as a child for years by his grandfather after his parents died, reports NBC.
He had little contact with humans and picked up the habits of the birds. After escaping from the coop, the man was taken to a local hospital.
No one knew how to treat him, so hospital workers locked him in a room and tied him to his bed for more than 20 years.
Now, doctors are trying to treat the man. They say he has no mental defects and agree his condition is from years of abuse and neglect.
"He had imitated or imprinted with the chicken," said Elizabeth Clayton who is rehabilitating the man.
"He was perching, he was picking at his food, he was hopping around like a chicken.
"He'd keep his hands in a chicken-like fashion, and he'd make a noise which was like the calling of a chicken - which he still has."
Doctors said the man has made remarkable progress and is now learning to walk and speak like a human.
The man was locked in a chicken coop as a child for years by his grandfather after his parents died, reports NBC.
He had little contact with humans and picked up the habits of the birds. After escaping from the coop, the man was taken to a local hospital.
No one knew how to treat him, so hospital workers locked him in a room and tied him to his bed for more than 20 years.
Now, doctors are trying to treat the man. They say he has no mental defects and agree his condition is from years of abuse and neglect.
"He had imitated or imprinted with the chicken," said Elizabeth Clayton who is rehabilitating the man.
"He was perching, he was picking at his food, he was hopping around like a chicken.
"He'd keep his hands in a chicken-like fashion, and he'd make a noise which was like the calling of a chicken - which he still has."
Doctors said the man has made remarkable progress and is now learning to walk and speak like a human.
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