A highly contentious ruling emerged from the Hamburg regional court’s youth chamber on Tuesday as eight of nine men accused of a sickening gang rape will avoid jail time.
In a haunting September 2020 incident, a group of young men, aged 19 to 23, violently assaulted a defenseless, intoxicated student in a Hamburg city park. The ordeal involved repeated rape, severe mistreatment, and robbery, with the victim being a 15-year-old girl, according to RMX News.
The suspects are predominantly of migrant backgrounds, including nationalities such as Polish, Egyptian, Libyan, Kuwaiti, Iranian, Armenian, and Afghan. The incident occurred post-midnight, following the victim’s departure from a friend’s birthday party.
The verdict concludes a lengthy trial that began in May 2022. Throughout the extended trial, involving 96 witnesses and several experts over 68 days, compelling evidence emerged, including DNA findings affirming the presence of the suspects’ semen on the victim.
Despite the severity of the charges, including video evidence of the crime that was reported to have been deleted, the court’s application of juvenile justice statutes resulted in suspended sentences for eight of the defendants, according to German media outlet BILD.
The sole perpetrator to receive a custodial sentence, a 19-year-old Iranian national, was sentenced to two years and nine months in juvenile detention. Amidst the trial proceedings, reports highlighted that the convicted displayed a lack of remorse.
His audacious comment to a judge, “What man doesn’t want that?” was met with public horror and judicial rebuke.
As for his co-accused, the court handed down one to two-year youth sentences; these were suspended conditionally, with probation reviews to be conducted in six months’ time. The migrant’s defense claims the young men’s actions were due to heightened testosterone—an argument met with the presiding judge Anne Meier-Göring’s declaration that lawful conduct is mandatory, regardless of hormonal levels.
BILD reported:
Investigators found semen traces from at least nine different perpetrators.
Now the verdict: Only a rapist has to go to jail!
The court sentenced the youngest defendant, a now 19-year-old Iranian, to two years and nine months in a youth prison.
Eight other defendants (20-23) received youth sentences that were suspended on probation or pre-probation. In these cases, a decision will be made in six months as to whether the sentence will remain on probation or whether the convicted person will be imprisoned. One defendant (23) was acquitted.
Incomprehensible: NONE of the defendants showed any remorse during the trial, let alone made a confession!
Presiding judge: “You have come to terms with your truth – who can reconcile themselves to possibly being a rapist?”
In fact, all defense lawyers had pleaded for acquittal. Their argument: It was not obvious to the men that the drunk girl did not want sex. The defendants suffered greatly from the allegations and the long trial.
Award-winning investigative journalist, Lara Logan, weighed in on this horrifying sentencing, “I was gang raped – back then people were invited in condemning the evil of that attack. That was only about a decade ago? What has happened to us?”
