ITALY: Italy's highest appeals court has ruled that calling former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi a "buffoon" can be actively useful for society.
Overruling the conviction of a freelance journalist who hurled insults at the then prime minister as he left a court three years ago, the court of cassation acknowledged that the man had levelled "strong criticism".
Judge Alfonso Amato argued in a written judgment that it was "socially useful in terms of the interest of society as a whole in the expression of opinions".
The judge added that a courthouse was the "ideal" place in which to "stimulate reflection on the subject of legality and respect for the law".
In May 2003, Pietro Ricca (31) confronted Mr Berlusconi as he was leaving a trial in Milan in which he was accused of bribing judges to obtain a favourable takeover decision.
Mr Berlusconi was later acquitted.
"Buffoon!" shouted Mr Ricca. "Get yourself convicted." He compared Mr Berlusconi to Romania's late dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, and was then arrested.
Last month the court revoked a €500 fine imposed on Mr Ricca on charges of impugning Mr Berlusconi's honour and ordered a magistrate to try him again - a ruling likely to mean the case is "timed out" by a statute of limitations.
Judge Amato's explanation of the ruling, released this week, angered conservative politicians yesterday.
Fabrizio Cicchitto, of the former prime minister's Forza Italia party, said: "It is evident that there are no limits to the partisanship [ of Italy's judges]."
Mr Berlusconi has long complained of being hounded by left-leaning magistrates. - (Guardian service)