The following is based on communications sent by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of Italy and the fossil fuel company Fox Petroli S.p.A. on 6 November 2025. The communications remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the authorities and the company time to reply. Regrettably, no response has been received from the Italian authorities nor from Fox Petroli S.p.A. If a response is received, it will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database.
Since the communication has been sent, legal proceedings have started and on 8 January 2026, environmental human rights defenders Roberto Malini and Lisetta Sperindei will appear at the Civil Division of the Ordinary Court of Pesaro for the first hearing in the SLAPP lawsuit filed by Fox Petroli S.p.A. The human rights defenders discovered only in December 2025 that Fox Petroli S.p.A. had submitted a criminal complaint to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Pesaro on 1 July 2025, accusing them of spreading false and defamatory news about the company and of causing alarm to the authorities and the public, and requesting that they be investigated under articles 595 and 658 of the Penal Code.
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the defamation lawsuit filed by the fossil fuel company Fox Petroli S.p.A. against environmental human rights defenders Roberto Malini and Lisetta Sperindei.
Roberto Malini is an environmental human rights defender, an author and an artist. He co-founded the PESARO: NO GNL civic initiative, opposing the establishment of a liquified natural gas terminal in a residential area, the Tombaccia neighbourhood of Pesaro, at high environmental risk. He is also the co-founder of EveryOne Group, an organization working to protect and promote the rights of Roma, refugees, LGBTI individuals and people affected by environmental injustice.
Lisetta Sperindei is an environmental human rights defender and a member of the civic initiative PESARO: NO GNL. She has been actively engaged in promoting public participation, raising awareness about health and environmental risks, and defending the right to a healthy environment, the right to health, the right of access to information, and ecological justice.
ALLEGATIONS
Since the beginning of 2025, human rights defenders Roberto Malini and Lisetta Sperindei, in the context of the civic initiative PESARO: NO GNL, have been exposing the environmental risks of building new liquified natural gas plants in the Tombaccia neighbourhood of Pesaro. They have released public statements about the site’s current condition, where the existing tanks dating back to the 1950s lack a double bottom and could thus contaminate the soil and water. Furthermore, they have denounced the potential health risks for the local population deriving from air, soil and water pollution.
On 8 May 2025, the human rights defenders announced in a press release that they had filed a formal environmental complaint to local and national authorities. The statement referred to the site as “degraded”, term reportedly used on the basis of technical, legal and other documents which pointed out the soil contamination and the need for remediation. Fox Petroli S.p.A. rejected these allegations, claiming that the human rights defenders were spreading unsubstantiated news by accusing the company of committing environmental crimes, thus discrediting it.
On 30 June 2025, the District Court of Pesaro summoned Roberto Malini and Lisetta Sperindei in relation to a complaint filed against them by Fox Petroli S.p.A. This complaint followed the decision of the Regional Technical Committee of the Fire Brigade to prohibit the construction of a new liquified natural gas terminal for the company’s use because of the high risk of a major accident. As communicated by the Ministry of Environment on 26 June 2025, the negative opinion of the Regional Technical Committee nullified the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) previously conducted, which had concluded in favour of the project. The final approval of the EIA was subject to a positive evaluation from the Regional Technical Committee of the Fire Brigade.
On 29 September 2025, a mediation hearing took place at the Court of Pesaro. This preliminary step is required to take place in disputes before legal proceedings can begin. Since no agreement was reached between the human rights defenders and the company during the mediation process, the case has been taken to trial. The first hearing should take place on 22 December 2025.
The company requested the human rights defenders to pay a minimum of two million euros as damage compensation for “causing alarm among the population by spreading false and defamatory news about the company and its functioning facilities” since May 2025 and “running a denigrating and persecutory campaign against the company and that its good name, reliability and credibility were harmed”.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express concern about the defamation lawsuit filed by Fox Petroli S.p.A. against environmental human rights defenders Roberto Malini and Lisetta Sperindei. We believe they have been targeted in direct retaliation for their public criticism of the company’s operations and for their environmental human rights advocacy opposing the establishment of a liquified natural gas plant in a densely populated area and exposing the potential environmental and health risks and harm that might derive from its activities. Human rights defenders, including environmental rights defenders, should never be targeted for exercising their right to freedom of expression, acting in the public’s interest, or peacefully doing their legitimate human rights work.
We are particularly concerned that the civil lawsuit initiated against the environmental human rights defenders Roberto Malini and Lisetta Sperindei seems to carry the characteristics of a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). The high amount sought for damage is highly disproportionate and appears to have the intent to financially intimidate and silence the human rights defenders. We also wish to stress the potential negative impact that this might have on the defenders’ psychological wellbeing and ability to carry out their activities.
