On March 3, the Rome High Court held a closed hearing on Matteotti's appeal for defamation, and although Matteotti's defense lawyer tried his best, he was finally defeated in front of Contini's four lawyers, and the court basically upheld the original verdict, but also gave Matteotti a little face: it believed that although a number of important people were involved, the 10 million lire claim was still too heavy, reduced the amount of compensation to 2 million lire, and required Matteotti to complete the payment within 15 days.

However, there was also a requirement that the Rome High Court upheld Contini's claim: Matteotti had to publish an apology in the Socialist, or the court could order the Socialist to cease publication.

This is Contini's implied killer, although the newspaper "Socialist" was not named as a co-defendant in the honorary lawsuit, but it does not mean that Contini decided to let this newspaper go and dare to come forward to fight a pen fight? Then be prepared to take the wrath.

Matteotti's face on the appeal bench was cloudy, and he did not know what to do with the matter, although his defense lawyer had previously revealed to him the possible outcome of the trial: if the evidence and facts were confirmed to be basically correct, the High Court, in order to maintain the authority of the law, would basically not overturn the relevant judgment of the lower court, otherwise the case would be overturned as soon as the appeal was appealed, and the district court would not open it in the future.

Even so, Matteotti was still lucky, believing that there was room for mitigation, and the maximum concession he could accept was to apologize in court and then pay symbolic compensation, but as soon as the two two of 2 million lire compensation and a public apology were published, he knew that he was in great trouble.

Two million lira was equivalent to $100,000, which was still a behemoth for most of the middle class at this time – $10,000 in assets could be classified as the middle class in Rome, and Matteotti, although he was the secretary general of the Socialist Party and a parliamentarian for many years, could have made up the most of his family's wealth.

This is not the most fatal, the most fatal thing is to publish a public apology in the "Socialist", which is tantamount to a great loss of face for Matteotti, not only does it damage his image as a parliamentarian, but even more seriously, he may even resign from the post of secretary general within the party, which is a heavy blow to his political future.

Contini looked at the other party with a smirk, and now Matteotti has another way to turn the situation around: appeal to the Italian Supreme Court, hoping to get a chance to change the sentence or remand for a new trial, but the defence team told him that the probability of such a thing happening is no higher than 1%. Italy is a country with a two-instance final adjudication system, and even if the local court of first instance and the high court of second instance declare that the legal process has been completed, the appeal to the Supreme Court may be accepted or rejected outright, and even if it is accepted, the possibility of such a decision by the Supreme Court is very low. The reason is the same: if the Supreme Court is so easy to always change the decisions of the lower courts, how can the authority of the entire judicial system be maintained? How to ensure the embodiment of the two-instance final adjudication system?

"I can get the Socialist Party to come forward and get the Supreme Court to accept it, and then ......" Matteotti gritted his teeth.

But he was interrupted by his lawyer in the middle of speaking: "Your Excellency, I understand your feelings very well, but it is better not to do such a thing, even the slightest rumor." ”

"Why?"

"This will become the administration and political parties interfering in the judiciary, and once that bastard boy on the other side pokes out, you will get into more trouble."

"It can't be...... There weren't a lot of ...... before" Speaking of which, Matteotti himself can't go on, there were indeed a lot of them before, the Socialists, the Liberals, the Democratic Party, the Nationalist Party will put pressure on the judiciary, and the problem is not a close contest, so the intervention is also intervention. Although there is only one Contini standing in front of him now, but behind him is the entire fascist and administrative organs, don't look at Mussolini has not commented and opinions on this lawsuit, but Matteotti dares to be 100% sure that Mussolini must have played a role in fueling the flames behind the scenes, otherwise a small defamation infringement case can make 4-5 cabinet ministers testify in court and support it?

Looking at Matteotti's unkind face, Contini was also asking his lawyers: "If this guy doesn't admit defeat, should he still think about appealing to the Supreme Court?" ”

"It's possible, but the probability of the Supreme Court accepting it is extremely low."

"What if he uses the power of the Socialist Party to exert pressure?"

"That's even better! With just the slightest bit of evidence, you can report on Socialist interference in the administration of justice...... We're ready to fight your lawsuit for a year! ”

Contini: Of course the lawyers are happy to play like this, they can get a steady stream of legal fees - but in two months, he has paid more than 1 million lire, if it is really like these four barristers said to fight a lawsuit for a year, at least 10 million lire!

In addition, a lawyer explained: "You can't lose this kind of lawsuit, and you have the Prime Minister and Fascist standing behind you, how can you allow you to lose easily?" Besides, isn't the crime of interfering with the judiciary also a means for the Prime Minister to attack his political opponents? You are also a top student of the Faculty of Law at the University of Rome, and you must know that there is no such thing as pure judicial justice, and that true judicial justice can only be achieved under the premise of equal power between the two sides. In terms of the strength behind you, not to mention completely overwhelming the Socialist Party, at least it is okay to sit on an equal footing. ”

The lawyers are all elites, and the barristers are no exception, they have long seen this truth, and they will not come forward to fight the lawsuit to this extent, otherwise why are there many other lawyers in Italy, but there are almost no others who are willing to accept Matteotti's hiring? These elves have long seen that it is not a few evidence or words that determine Matteotti's success or failure, but the oppression of the entire fascist force, so they either offer a sky-high agency fee to scare Matteotti away, or simply decline politely. Only a few lawyers of medium caliber and reputation wondered if they could make a fortune from Bo Bo, and once they brought down Contini's famous lawyers, they would be able to make a name for themselves, and now it seems that they have clearly failed.

But Contini relaxed in a blink of an eye, 10 million lira is nothing, I have money, sir! If he can really bite the Socialist Party, not to mention that his own status and importance will rise, and even the status of the Youth League and the prestige of the "Youth Daily" will rise to a higher level, and he is ready to follow the example of "Time Magazine" next month and launch the "Youth Weekly" as a magazine supplement to the "Youth Daily".

So he nodded and said, "Okay!" I am here to the end, and I hope that Mr. Matteotti will not disappoint me, eh...... I don't know which house he is going to mortgage this time. ”

Several barristers smiled: for this appeal and the hiring of a lawyer, Matteotti has mortgaged a house, if there is another protracted legal battle, I don't know if the exhausted Matteotti can bear it, anyway, everyone knows that their client has money: in one go, he opened 6 or 7 industries, all of them are losing money to make a living, and even in order to ensure that the printing effect of the "Youth Daily" is better and faster, he has set up a special printing house, and in order to ensure that the "Youth Daily" is launched simultaneously in other cities, he uses airplanes to transport it. This practice is also a panic with a lot of money, and when will it be better not to make this master's money at this time?

After making up his mind, Contini was ready to stand up and stimulate Matteotti, and in the final statement of the two sides, he suddenly said unexpectedly: "Since Mr. Matteotti keeps saying that he is petitioning for the people, in the name of the representative, now I will give you a chance to prove yourself, your 2 million lire compensation does not need to be paid by yourself, you only need to collect 10,000 people from your supporters, and each person can donate 200 lira to make up this money, I think you have the support of the people, and there is no need to publicly apologize...... I will not use this money for my own use after I collect it, but I will use it for public welfare. ”

Matteotti and his defense lawyer had just breathed a sigh of relief, and Contini splashed the second basin of water again: "However, in exchange, you will give me a detailed list of the 10,000 donations, and I will send reporters and other investigators to visit them one by one, if it is found that it is fabricated, coerced, induced, deceived or forged, there may be more storms waiting for you......"

Matteotti was furious: "Who do you think you are! Why should I listen to you? I will appeal to the Supreme Court! I am confident that the Italian judicial system will do justice to me. ”

Contini shrugged: "Okay, then let's move on ......"