Said Italian comedienne Sabina Guzzanti, she now faces a prison term of five years.

The move to prosecute was praised by some, including Luca Volonte, a Christian Democrat, who said that "gratuitous insults must be punished".


However, many people were strongly critical. Paolo Guzzanti, Ms Guzzanti's father and a centre Right MP, said the move was "a return to the Middle Ages”.
"Perhaps my daughter should be submitted to the judgement of God by being made to walk on hot coals," he added.
......
"You can agree or not agree with what she said — and personally I didn't — but to put people in prison for what they think is reminiscent of a time when those who thought differently had castor oil poured down their throats" — a reference to the Fascist era, when the Laterna Treaty was enacted.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4732048.ece

Freedom of speech ftw.

America, fuck yeah.

Giovanni Ferrara, the Rome prosecutor, is invoking the 1929 Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Vatican, which stipulates that an insult to the Pope carries the same penalty as an insult to the Italian President.

So you'd get 5 years for insulting the president? Oh, come on. Regardless, I simply can't see her going to jail, it would be absolutely ridiculous.

This whole flap is particularly ironic (not to mention silly and unnecessary) in light of the fact that Benny's predecessor explcitly stated that there is no such place as Hell.

The sad part about this is the people who actually support this.