The trial against two 26 and 38-year-old men who are said to have raped an 18-year-old Ukrainian woman on a hotel ship in Düsseldorf in early March began at the Düsseldorf Regional Court.

All three had fled to Germany via Poland after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The two accused were in Ukraine as students.

The alleged victim was unable to give her testimony as planned on Wednesday because she contracted the coronavirus.

Pure burger

Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.

  • Follow I follow

The two suspects deny the allegations and were silent at the start of the trial.

The presiding judge explained to the defendants that while confessions would have a significant mitigating effect on the sentence, suspended sentences were not an option.

Emergencies shamelessly exploited

According to the investigators' findings so far, the two men are said to have attacked the young woman in quick succession, but without prior agreement.

In the early evening of March 6, the younger man initially raped the Ukrainian in a room on the hotel ship "Oscar Wilde", on which several refugees were accommodated in addition to tourists.

Immediately after the crime, the shocked and agitated woman is said to have confided in the thirty-eight-year-old, who is said to have lured her into his room under the pretext of protecting her.

It is said that the second sexual assault happened there.

Both men were arrested that same evening.