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Main entrance of the Regional Court of Hamburg
Photo: Georg Wendt / picture alliance/dpa
The rape of a 15-year-old girl by several young men in Hamburg's Stadtpark caused a stir and outrage nationwide about three years ago. On Tuesday, the trial against ten defendants came to an end after a year and a half.
Eight men were sentenced to juvenile sentences of one to two years on probation or so-called pre-probation. Only one 19-year-old received a harsher sentence, two years and nine months in prison without parole. A tenth defendant was acquitted. An eleventh defendant had already been acquitted in April of this year.
The ten young men were accused of abusing the then 19-year-old on September 2020, 15. According to the prosecutor's office, the girl had attended a party on the lawn of the city park. During the Corona period, the green space had developed into a popular meeting place. Heavily intoxicated, the teenager had been abused, sometimes with the use of violence in a bush.
The prosecution had demanded sentences of one year and three months to three years for nine defendants. The defense has demanded acquittal – for all ten defendants.
Due to the age of the 19 to 23-year-old defendants at the time of the crime, the proceedings were conducted by a juvenile chamber. The public had been excluded at the start of the trial on May 10, 2022.
According to earlier statements by the Senate, four of the defendants are Germans, and another four have Armenian, Afghan, Kuwaiti and Montenegrin nationalities. In the case of two defendants, the nationality should be clarified by the court.
The court has heard 67 witnesses and several experts during the 96 days of hearings so far. An eleventh defendant was acquitted on April 5 of this year, and the case against him had been severed.
ala/dpa