In 2023, the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni sued Placebo frontman Brian Molko for calling her a “piece of shit, fascist, racist” during the band’s performance at the Sonic Park festival in Stupinigi outside Turin. Now, as Italian newspaper La Stampa reports, Italian prosecutors have charged Molko with “contempt of the institutions,” an offence that carries a fine of between €1,000 (£830) and €5,000 (£4,150).
Meloni leads the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, and her far-right coalition was voted into power in 2022. It’s widely considered to be the country’s most rightwing government since Benito Mussolini during the World War II, pursuing hardline stances against immigration, abortion, and gay rights.
According to The Guardian, the offense of defamation is subject to direct summons to trial. It can also carry a prison term of up to three years, though a justice ministry spokesperson says that Molko is “unlikely” to get any prison time.
