In the last post, I noted that if you can afford a panino, you can afford a ticket to La Scala. But sadly, not everyone can afford a sandwich.

I thank my favorite 11 year old, Brooklyn, for this post.

When Brooklyn first heard about my blog, she googled Starving for Italy. What she discovered were articles about hunger in Italy, and in particular, an Italian Supreme Court decision in 2016 involving a hungry man in Genoa. It sounded interesting, so I googled myself. Here’s what Brooklyn and I learned.

The Case of Roman Ostriakov

A 35 year old Ukrainian man named Roman Ostriakov – homeless, without work and living on the streets of Genoa – entered a supermarket called Ekom. Hungry, he pocketed a package of four würstel (hot dogs) and two small packets of cheese, total value four euros or five dollars. Another customer saw him do it and alerted store management. When Ostriakov went to the cashier to pay for a package of grissini, but not the pocketed items, he was stopped. Charged with theft, Ostriakov was sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of 100 euros.

A public defender appealed the case to the court of appeals. She argued that since Ostriakov never made it out of the store with the items, at most he was guilty of attempted theft, and the sentence should be reduced to 10 euros and no jail time. The court of appeals affirmed the original sentence.

The Supreme Court wrote in its decision,

 The condition of the accused and the circumstances under which he took the items demonstrated that he took that small amount of food because of an immediate and essential need to eat, being in an urgent state of hunger.

The existence, in this court, of that justification requires the vacating of the sentence imposed because these facts do not constitute a crime.

And here’s the next interesting thing:

An Italian singer from Genoa, Fabrizio De André, sang about this case forty years earlier –

The Song of Fabrizio De André

Fabrizio De André (1940, Genoa – 1999, Milan) was a popular Italian singer / songwriter, a contemporary of Bob Dylan and often compared to him. Like Dylan, Fabrizio De André was a poet who put his words to music. Over his thirty year career, De André sang of the underdog, of outcasts, of social issues.

In 1973, Fabrizio De André released the album Storia di un Impiegato | Story of a Worker, his most political work. The album tells the story of a worker who, after hearing a song about the French student protests of 1968, decides to rebel. After joining protests and committing violence, the worker lands in jail. The song Nella Mia Ora Di Libertà | In My Hour of Freedom describes what he learns from other inmates about justice, including the theft of bread.

Fabrizio De André’s words are memorialized on a wall of Via del Campo in Genoa, as seen in the featured photo.

Compassion and Justice

I’ll give the closing statement to Antonio Lucisano, the government lawyer who argued for Roman Ostriakov rather than the prosecution in the Italian Supreme Court. When asked later why he did such a surprising thing, Avvocato Lucisano said,

“Justice must do just things…

At times, even in the courts, things are simpler than they seem…

Besides, exactly who thinks it’s a priority to prosecute Roman Ostriakov for four würstel?”

I’ve long admired Italy for the sensitivity and compassion you find expressed there. For people in need – the elderly, the poor, people with health problems – my experience is that Italians are genuinely sympathetic and want to help.

How reassuring to also see compassion expressed from an institution grounded in justice, the highest court of law.

Until next time, alla prossima volta, – and thank you Brooklyn –  A. S. Furbetta