Italy’s highest judicial court overturned the conviction of a poor man who stole food out of necessity.
During November of 2011, Roman Ostriakov—a homeless young Ukrainian man—paid for a packet of bread sticks at a supermarket in Genoa, Italy.
Another customer in the store reported that Ostriakov had unpaid items in his pocket: two pieces of cheese and a packet of hot dogs. The cost of which totaled around four euros ($4.68).
On Feb. 12, 2015, Genoa’s Court of Appeals upheld Ostriakov’s conviction of theft in the first degree. On May 2, Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation overturned the decision.
“The event does not constitute a crime,” said the Supreme Court. “Those who, driven by need, steal small quantities of food in the face of the unavoidable necessity to nourish themselves, are not punishable.”
“The condition of the accused and the circumstances he was at the mercy of” stated the Supreme Court, “demonstrate that he required that food to face the immediate and unavoidable need to feed himself.”
