Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is taking court action against fake sex videos in which her face was copied onto the bodies of porn actresses.
The leader of the ultra-right party Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) is seeking damages of €100,000 ($108.6 billion) in a lawsuit against two men, the Italian news agency ANSA reported on Tuesday.
She will appear in person at the trial on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia on July 2, her lawyer said. If she is successful, Meloni will donate the money to a fund to support women who have been victims of male violence.
The case is currently against a 40-year-old man who lives in Sardinia. Next week, a judge will decide whether charges will also be brought against his 73-year-old father. Meloni wants to join the lawsuit.
The investigation began in 2020 in the city of Sassari. The son is accused of using video software to make porn actresses look like Meloni. According to the investigators, the films were available on the internet for months via a US website and were also viewed millions of times.
The prime minister's complaint said she wanted to send a message "to all women who are victims of this kind of abuse of power not to be afraid to press charges."
The Fratelli leader has been at the head of a three-party coalition in Rome since October 2022. The videos were created when she was still in the opposition.
