As an American I am sometimes confused and fascinated by laws in Europe regarding assault, defamation, slander, and offensive behavior. We have some goofy ideas about the definitions of these things, the Europeans do too. I am used to ours, not theirs. I sometimes think there is a happy medium between our freedom of speech and their slander laws. I am not sure where this story falls in.
There is an ongoing duel between Lance Armstrong and Italian rider Fillipo Simeoni that started (at least publically) with Simeoni declaring Lance used drugs. In the last Tour de France Armstrong chased down the Italian in a break-away late in the tour and immediately afterward Simeoni pressed charges either for something Lance said on the road in France or him simply saying that Simeoni is a liar for saying he used drugs. I'm not entirely sure why an investigation was opened to be honest. However, today Italian rider Mario Cippolini was questioned in regards to the case. Its all very complicated but it certainly feels like Simeoni is charging Armstrong for wrongful chasing down in a competitive bike race. What a tool.
Posted by dmason at May 31, 2005 09:18 PM