Public Masturbation No Longer A Crime In Italy, Supreme Court Rules — But There’s A Condition

The Italian Supreme Court — La Corte di Cassazione — has ruled that public masturbation is no longer a criminal offense after hearing the case of a 69-year-old man who had been caught masturbating in the southern city of Catania, The Independent reports.

The man, identified as Pietro L., was convicted in May 2015 after he was seen “taking out his penis” and “practicing autoeroticism” in front of students at the University of Catania campus, as stated in the documents filed with the Supreme Court.

Pietro L. was sentenced to three months in prison and ordered to pay a fine worth €3,420.

The defendant’s lawyer made an appeal to the highest court, which ruled on the side of the accused but hasn’t made the decision public until recently.

The Supreme Court ruling states that a recent iteration of the criminal code stipulates that public masturbation is no longer a criminal act, as long as it is not done in the presence of minors.

The high court has overturned Pietro L’s case without further deliberation, which will now be sent to the Prefect of Catania to be sentenced again. The local courts are yet to determine the administrative fine amount — which will be between €5,000 ($5,651) and €30,000 ($33,912), as reported by CNN.

In finalizing the decision, the judges from the Supreme Court reminded everyone that the Italian parliament passed a law last year decriminalizing public masturbation.

After all the politicians have been at it for years ….https://t.co/Cq2xW36KGc

— Channeling Mr. B (@BrentRBrian) September 9, 2016

Many similar cases around the world sparked a discussion on whether masturbation in public should be criminalized. One notable case was that of a Swedish man who was caught masturbating on a beach in Stockholm. The Swedish man was eventually acquitted of sexual assault charge on account of his actions not being directed towards a specific individual. In the exact words of the Swede’s court ruling, the man did not commit an offense because he was not “pleasuring himself towards a specific person.”

The 65-year-old man had been convicted of sexual assault after he was caught pulling down his shorts and masturbating on a beach in Stockholm.

“For this to be a criminal offence it’s required that the sexual molestation was directed towards one or more people. I think the court’s judgement is reasonable,” said public prosecutor Olof Vrethammar.

While Vrethammar said that it was “okay” to masturbate in public, on the condition that it was not directed at a specific person, he conceded that the act may still be treated by courts as “disorderly conduct.”

In the UK, those caught masturbating in public are given the standard sentence of around 14 days in prison, though there are many other factors that may come into play in determining the final ruling. As stated in Section 28 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, “wilfully and indecently” exposing one’s “person” in a street or public place is considered a criminal offense.

Extreme views on the subject of masturbation still exist even to this day. In Turkey, televangelist Mücahid Cihad Han sparked online rage when he warned Muslim men that masturbation may “leave their hands pregnant” in the afterlife.

The controversial televangelist made the bizarre remark in response to a question asked by one of his viewers, as previously reported by The Inquisitr. The viewer called in while the show was airing and said that he kept masturbating even though he was already married, and even during Umrah.

The Turkish televangelist warned the viewer that masturbation is forbidden in Islam, saying, “one hadith states that those who have sexual intercourse with their hands will find their hands pregnant in the afterlife, complaining against them to God over its rights.”

“If our viewer was single, I could recommend he marry, but what can I say now?” Han added.

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