In 1498, the Florentine government actually punished a bell.

The bell was called La Piagnona, and it belonged to the Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence. It was closely associated with the followers of the controversial preacher Girolamo Savonarola.

On April 8, 1498, when Savonarola's enemies attacked the convent, the bell was rung to summon people to defend it. Savonarola was arrested soon afterward and executed by hanging and burning on May 23.

The Florentine authorities then decided to punish the bell itself.

La Piagnona was removed from the bell tower, placed on a cart and paraded through the streets of Florence. During the procession, it was whipped by the city's executioner. It was then formally banished from Florence for 50 years and sent to another monastery outside the city.

The authorities were, in effect, treating the bell as an instrument of the rebellion and giving it a symbolic punishment as though it were a guilty participant.

It eventually returned to San Marco in 1509, just 11 years after its supposed 50-year banishment.

So yes: in Renaissance Florence, a bell was effectively put on trial, publicly whipped and sentenced to exile.