The judge described it as “enormous contempt for humanity”: Six Afghan defendants had to stand trial for two days at the Feldkirch Regional Court for the sexual abuse of a defenceless woman. The fugitives received prison sentences of 7 to 12.5 years. The sentences are not legally binding.
The men, aged 23, 26, 29, 36, 52 and 57, were accused of having had sexual intercourse with a 45-year-old woman, who was heavily drunk, in a refugee accommodation in Bludenz in February 2022. In court, two of the men denied having had sexual intercourse with the woman. The other defendants spoke of consensual sex. The fact that all the accused had intimate contact with the woman was supported by a corresponding expert opinion. The expert’s statements in court, which were based on corresponding analyses, left no doubt about this. According to court psychiatrist Reinhard Haller, the defendants were all sane at the time of the crime, even if two of them had a “slight mental handicap” and the men had also been drinking.
During their questioning on the first day of the trial on Wednesday, several defendants emphasised that the woman had always been “in a normal condition” during her stay of several days in the refugee home. This was contradicted on Friday by a witness from Vienna who had also lived in the home in Bludenz in February 2022. The woman was “completely drunk”, he said – so drunk that she could hardly speak or walk. The 45-year-old herself, who by her own admission is a severe alcoholic, testified in camera on Friday via Zoom-Call.
At the beginning of the trial, the prosecutor had reported that the victim had been kicked out of the flat after an argument with her former partner. The woman was heavily drunk and looking for a place to sleep. At the Dornbirn railway station, the third defendant became aware of her, approached her and offered her a place to sleep with the first defendant in a refugee home in Bludenz.
On arrival in Bludenz, the 45-year-old was offered alcohol in the first defendant’s room. Subsequently, the first three accused allegedly sexually abused her. The next day, according to the prosecution, the other three men also had sexual intercourse with the woman. According to the DNA traces examined, there must have been a seventh man who had abused the woman, but it had not yet been possible to find him, she said.
In their pleas, the men’s defence lawyers questioned the 45-year-old’s lack of defence. After all, the police had shown up at the refugee centre, the woman had given clear answers to the officers and had wanted to stay in the refugee centre. It is also questionable whether the men could have recognised the woman’s defencelessness – if it existed. It would have been possible for the 45-year-old woman to leave the accommodation at any time, say the lawyers.
In contrast, the presiding judge stated in her reasoning that it had been proven that the woman was in a state of defencelessness. In the case, her consent to sexual intercourse – which the men had invoked – was of no significance, the judge referred to the established case law. She said that the crime showed an “enormous contempt for humanity” and left the jury speechless.
The sentences ranged from five to 15 years, in one case from five to 20 years. The men’s alcoholism was considered a mitigating factor, and in the case of two men, their good character was also taken into account. The circumstances of the crime – namely that several men had intercourse with the woman in succession without protection – had an aggravating effect. While the public prosecutor did not make any statement, the defence lawyers of the accused each asked for three days to think it over. The verdict is therefore not legally binding.
https://exxpress.at/hohe-haftstrafen-sechs-afghanen-hatten-wehrlose-frau-sexuell-missbraucht/