Italian in Europe’s Parliament Convicted of Defamation for Racial Insult
Ms. Kyenge said that the many messages of support she had received after the sentence was made public Thursday confirmed her belief
that Italy was "not a racist country." She expressed hope that the court ruling would have a broader impact, one that showed that "some ideas, like racial hatred, have no place in our institutions." "This sentence is a lesson to all member states," she said.
He described Ms. Kyenge, who was a member of Enrico Letta’s short-lived government, as "a good housewife, but not a government minister." He also said
that as a doctor working for the national health service, Ms. Kyenge had taken the job of an Italian doctor.
By ELISABETTA POVOLEDOMAY 19, 2017
ROME — An Italian member of the European Parliament has been found guilty of defamation
and ordered to pay 50,000 euros, or $55,670, in damages to a fellow member of the European Union body, four years after he was accused of racially insulting her during a radio interview.
Mr. Borghezio said on Friday that though he respected the court’s ruling, he felt as though he had
been "politically persecuted" by Ms. Kyenge’s party, the Democrats, in the European Parliament.
Ms. Kyenge, who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, became Italy’s first
black national minister in 2013 before being elected to the European Parliament.
Mr. Borghezio said that During a radio interview in April 201