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Some countries require six months validity on passports are exiting the country. Italy is part of the Schengen Zone and, for many years, the Schengen rules have required three months validity after exiting the country. So this person should have had around four months left on the passport before travelling.
The reason for this ruling is that he has the right to stay in Italy for a total of 90 days - as far as authorities are concerned he could stay in Italy and change the date of his homeward flight, they have no control over what he does. So, if he chose to stay 90 days, his passport would expire and he woud be an illegal alien.
It's the travellers responsibility to find out the regulations for each country they are travelling to and make sure their passport is valid.
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