A 20-year-old woman from Hamburg has been sentenced to prison: a court sentenced her for hate messages on WhatsApp. The reason for this is the woman’s comments to a rapist who was involved in a brutal gang rape.
In 2020, a 14-year-old girl was repeatedly raped for hours by “groups of men” in a Hamburg district – traces of semen were found from nine men.
The crime made national headlines. According to media reports, five of the ten defendants had German citizenship (none were of German heritage), and the rest include a Syrian, a Montenegrin, a Kuwaiti, an Afghan and an Armenian.
Rapist involved get probation – the woman has to go to prison
The case caused outrage – not only because of the brutal gang rape, but also because of the verdict. Eight of the nine perpetrators did not even have to go to prison: they received suspended sentences. Only one rapist was sent to youth prison for two years.
The young woman, however, who insulted one of the rapists, was sentenced to prison: the 20-year-old was sent to a youth prison for a weekend.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the young woman contacted one of the perpetrators after his personal information ended up on the Internet.
She called him a “dishonorable rapist pig” and a “disgusting freak”. According to the prosecution, the woman also threatened the man that he would not be able to go anywhere “without getting a punch in the face”.
“Aren’t you ashamed when you look in the mirror?” and “Let’s hope you’re just locked up,” she also wrote. For this she has to go to prison – while the vast majority of the city park rapists were allowed to remain at large.
According to the Hamburger Abendblatt , the now convicted woman said she was horrified and shocked when she heard that a 14-year-old had been the victim of a gang rape. She had no personal connection to either the victim or the suspects. The suspect’s cell phone number was circulating on the social network Snapchat – she wanted to express her outrage out of a reflex, she explains. “Without thinking twice,” she vented her anger – she was sorry for what she had done. “It doesn’t make anyone better.”
The rapists, however, showed no remorse during the trial – but they remained at large. It is a judicial farce that shakes confidence in the rule of law.
Police investigate hundreds of people who insulted rapists
As the Hamburger Abendblatt further reports, the case of the young woman is not the only such investigation: The authorities in Hamburg are investigating 140 cases of insults, threats or other statements to the detriment of the Stadtpark rapists.
