Germany jails woman for offending migrant rapist
German authorities have jailed a woman and are investigating 140 other people for making “hateful remarks” against a group of migrants who raped a 15-year-old girl.
Nine men convicted, one jailed
Eleven men were charged last year with raping the child in Hamburg’s Stadtpark in 2020. The girl had been drinking with friends but found herself alone after police scattered park attendees in accordance with social distancing mandates. She was found by a group of four men, each of whom raped her in turn. She was then violated by two more men. The rapists invited others on a WhatsApp group, after which a man showed up to abuse her an additional time, and then a group of three men came to rape her as well. Her wallet and phone were stolen.
Out of the eleven migrants who were charged, two were released for lack of DNA evidence. Traces of semen from the other nine men were found on the girl’s body, and evidence showed they had shared videos of the rapes on WhatsApp.
The nine rapists came from Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iran, Armenia, Kuwait, Libya, and Poland. During the trial, Judge Anne Meier-Göring criticized the men for not expressing a word of regret. Nevertheless, she sentenced only one to prison. The other eight walked free, sentenced only to probation.
Woman jailed for ‘hate speech’ against rapist
The decision sparked widespread fury in Germany. Some netizens managed to find out the phone number of one of the rapists and circulated it publicly.
A 20-year-old woman, enraged by the act and the lenient sentence, began messaging the rapist. She called him a “disgusting freak” and a “dishonorable rapist pig.” “Aren’t you ashamed when you look in the mirror?” she wrote.
The migrant reported the woman’s message to the police, who charged her with hate speech. She was convicted and spent a weekend in jail, reported German media, which is more jail time than eight of the nine convicted rapists received. In court, the woman apologized for her remarks, which she said were a “reflex” and the result of impulsive behavior.
But she was not the only one to send angry messages to the rapist. Police are currently investigating 140 other people for doing the same.
