An Italian football fan has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexual assault after he indecently touched a TV reporter from behind during a live broadcast.
In addition, 47-year-old Andrea Serrani has to pay journalist Greta Beccaglia 10,000 euros in reparation and 5,000 euros to the Union of Italian Journalists (FNSI), which helped bring the case before a court in Florence.
Peter Philipp Schmitt
Editor in the department "Germany and the World".
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The incident happened in November 2021 in front of the Carlo Castellani football stadium in the town of Empoli, Tuscany.
The 28-year-old Beccaglia was reporting live on a match between FC Empoli and AC Fiorentina when Serrani approached her from behind and slapped her buttocks in front of the camera.
The video then went viral on social media and was widely covered in the Italian press.
After the verdict, Beccaglia spoke to the newspaper "Corriere della Sera" of a victory for all women.
"No one has the right to violate our rights and see our bodies as trophies." She hopes that one day women will be able to do their jobs without being harassed.
She will donate the money to an organization that campaigns for women's rights.
At the same time, Beccaglia spoke in the interview about the fact that a year after the incident, she was still receiving anonymous threats because she ruined a man who was only joking.
When asked if she had since forgiven the man, the journalist replied that it didn't matter whether she had forgiven him.
"He has to forgive himself." She hopes that he will see how much she has hurt him.
Also because he spat on his hand before touching it from behind.