Italy’s PM Meloni sues Gomorrah writer in libel drama over refugee rescue

Anti-mafia journalist to appear in court in Rome over comments made about policy towards migrants drowning in Mediterranean

Italy's new far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is suing one of the world's best-known journalists, the anti-mafia and human rights campaigner Roberto Saviano, for criminal defamation, over remarks he made regarding her policy towards migrants drowning in the Mediterranean sea.

This is the second time in just under four years that senior government ministers have targeted Saviano, 43, with criminal proceedings, despite a duty to protect him after the Neapolitan Camorra issued a death threat following publication of his book Gomorrah in 2006.