Revealed: paper giant 'linked to Indonesian forest trashing' targeted activists

An international solidarity campaign is gaining momentum to support the small Italian environmental group - Terra! - which recently lost a court case brought against it by Cartiere Paolo Pigna. Pigna is a household name in Italy as a stationery brand associated with school exercise books, and the core of its business is ‘paper conversion’, turning low-value pulp into high-value household and office products.

In April 2010 Terra! produced a report of research alleging that Pigna sells paper made from rainforests in Indonesia, and in particular that they source products from the controversial company Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). After a banner action on Pigna’s building in Rome, the company sued Terra! for slander and damage to their corporate reputation, and won. The court found that although the substance of Terra!’s campaign was valid, the wording of their banner was not. Campaigners believe that this ruling is a travesty of justice, and are concerned about the circumstances of the trial.

In the court case, which was made public in January 2011, the judge found that Terra!’s report is not libellous, and that Pigna does indeed source some of its paper products from APP. He...

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