Masturbating in public is not a crime, the Italian supreme court has ruled, even if it is done so with the clear aim of being seen by other members of the public.
The decision came down from the Italian Supreme Court — La Corte di Cassazione — in the case of a 69-year-old man, identified only as “PL,” who was caught masturbating in Catania, a city on Sicily’s east coast.
The man was convicted in May 2015 after he performed the act in front of students on the University of Catania campus, according to documents filed with Supreme Court.
The man was sentenced to three months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of €3,200 (around $3,600).
But his lawyers took the case to a final appeal in front of the Supreme Court in Rome, which over-turned the conviction, citing a law introduced last year which decriminalised the offence of masturbating in public in front of women.
“The act is no longer regarded as a crime by the law,” the Supreme Court ruled.
It decided that rather than a custodial sentence, the man should be fined between €5,000 and 30,000.
The exact amount will be determined by a court in Catania.