In Cividale del Friuli (Udine), a glance from above was enough to transform a sunny afternoon into a case destined to end up before a Justice of the Peace. And to drag on for years, for a fine of one hundred euros.
In fact, in June five years ago, someone from the bridge noticed a woman sunbathing topless on the riverbank below and decided to report it . The local police promptly arrived on the Natisone River and issued the woman, a Brazilian native and local resident, a €100 fine , plus, to top it all off, a €5 service fee, for violating the municipal police regulations of the Eastern Friuli Community.
According to the local police, the woman allegedly behaved in a manner that violated public decency, as her exposed breasts were clearly visible from the scenic road to the Devil's Bridge, a popular spot for residents and tourists . The 55-year-old woman's defense attorney, Carlo Monai, requested the fine be overturned, arguing that the report provides an inaccurate account of the events and that the charges are worded indeterminately.
For Monai, "the accusation appears distorted in the reconstruction of the facts" because the woman's behavior was "harmless and within the scope of the exercise of personal freedom." The lawyer, above all, recalls the consolidated position of the Court of Cassation, according to which the monokini, if free of sexual or provocative behavior, does not constitute an act contrary to public decency .
And this is precisely where the crux of the matter lies. In Italy, toplessness is not prohibited by a general law: over the years , the Court of Cassation has ruled out the possibility that simply exposing breasts can constitute a criminal offense. However, it remains possible that municipal regulations or local ordinances may introduce specific bans in certain places .
It will therefore be up to the Justice of the Peace to determine whether, in this case, the local regulation actually justified the fine or whether, instead, an overly restrictive interpretation of the concept of public decency prevailed. But all of this will not happen before February 10, 2027, the date the hearing was scheduled, six years after the events .
(Unioneonline)