"Frivolous" Lawsuit Filed by Italian Oil Company Allegedly to Silence Reporting on Israel Connections
The Corner House Expresses Solidarity

Social movements around the world have condemned as frivolous a lawsuit brought this month by the Italian oil company ENI against a small Italian solidarity organization and one of its representatives, Eva Pastorelli.

Pastorelli's "offense" was to state last December on the Italian television programme Report several facts that ENI itself does not dispute.

First, ENI has had partnerships both with the Israeli Ministry of Energy and with the Israeli company Delek Group. Second, in 2023, the Ministry awarded oil exploration licenses off the coast of Gaza to two consortia of national energy companies. Third, Delek Group was blacklisted by the United Nations for operating illegally in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Fourth, ENI itself has now affirmed that it “does not plan to be involved in activities in the [Gaza] area in the future,” signalling its withdrawal from the offshore exploration consortium in question.

Re:Common said ENI's lawsuit was "reckless" and its accusations against the NGO "unfounded." The sole aim, it insisted, was to repress Re:Common's reporting on "issues of indisputable public interest."

"We condemn ENI’s decision to threaten another frivolous lawsuit against @recommon and @evapastor3lli in an attempt to silence Re:Common's representatives," said Nicholas Hildyard, a Co-Director of The Corner House, a UK solidarity and research organization.

"This is a clear-cut SLAPP lawsuit, the fourth in three years against Re:Common," Hildyard noted. 

SLAPP stands for "strategic lawsuit against public participation." A SLAPP is an abusive legal action undertaken by a corporation or state agency in order to bankrupt, intimidate, or obstruct the work of critics. It commonly has no substantive basis, being used merely to divert the time and energy of activists or journalists. SLAPPs have become common weapons against people's movements across the world from the US to Italy to Thailand and Australia.

The damages ENI are threatening to demand amount up to an unprecedented €800,000, well beyond the ability of a small organization like ReCommon to pay.

"One thing is certain," Hildyard stated. "Re:Common won't back down and we will stand in solidarity with them."