A year and a half after the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old in Hamburg’s city park, the trial of eleven defendants begins. The hearing will take place behind closed doors.
More than 11,000 people have called for an immediate trial after investigations into the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl in Hamburg’s Stadtpark dragged on for months. Now, a year and a half later, the eleven defendants have to answer for the cruel assaults they are said to have committed on the night of September 20, 2020. The young men enter the courtroom individually. They hid their faces behind baseball caps, hoods and FF2 masks. The clicking noises of the many cameras that capture the beginning of the process can be heard. The case continues to attract a great deal of attention.
The public prosecutor’s office accuses ten of the alleged perpetrators of rape, and the eleventh man of aiding and abetting the rape and creating child pornography. He is said to have recorded on his cell phone how the others took turns sexually assaulting the girl. It’s been more than 17 months since the night the 15-year-old victim is said to have lost her friends at a birthday party in Hamburg’s city park. In a drunken state, she is said to have met two young men in the area of the fairgrounds. Three more are said to have joined a little later. The group is said to have dragged the girl into a bush and raped her.
Several rapes in the Hamburg city park
When the men left, the 15-year-old was said to haveHamburg evening paper“Have been attacked by other men, who pushed the victim back into the bushes. Sexual intercourse is said to have taken place there with six other men. According to the indictment, the perpetrators were involved “in different ways, at different times and in different places” in the Victim passed away “who was no longer able to express an opposing will due to her alcoholism”.
The eleven defendants cover their faces as they enter the courtroom
© Markus Scholz / DPA
Numerous questions are still open. Since all of the accused were under 21 at the time of the crime, the hearing will take place in front of the Juvenile Criminal Court. Clarifying step by step what happened on September night and who was involved to what extent is the main subject of the process, explains Kai Wantzen, spokesman at the Higher Regional Court, before the hearing begins. The courtroom is filled to the last seat. Each of the eleven young men has been assigned a public defender, and a number of journalists are bustling about in the audience area – but they have to leave the room immediately. The public is excluded, as judge Anne Maier-Göring announced a little later.
Negotiation without the public
The main reason for this is the protection of the privacy of the victim and the alleged perpetrator. “These are proceedings for a criminal offense against sexual self-determination, in which circumstances from personal life, in particular the intimate and sexual sphere, are the subject of discussion,” the lawyer read out the court’s decision. “This is all the more true as the joint plaintiff is still young, which is why it is particularly important to consider the burden on her of a public main hearing and public reporting.” In addition, the court will hear numerous witnesses under the age of 18, including the victim himself, as court spokesman Wantzen confirms when asked by stern.
Sensitive details are already mentioned in the indictment, which is 88 pages long. In the eyes of the judge, the “interests worthy of protection” of those involved in the process outweigh the interest of the public, which Maier-Göring describes as “significant”. A number of media had reported on the alleged gang rape and the subsequent investigations. The public prosecutor’s office has repeatedly come under criticism because of the length of the proceedings. Attorney General Jörg Fröhlich described the investigation as expensive, extensive and complex. He asked for patience: “You should please trust the public prosecutor’s office here,” he said.Hamburger evening paper”. But when after a year no charges had been brought against the suspects, there was an outcry from the public.
“Unacceptable public denunciation”
An online petition signed by thousands called for an immediate trial and for the perpetrators’ faces to be released. Photos of the alleged perpetrators and details from their private lives were shared on an Instagram account. Hate messages, calls for violence and even death threats followed. The police initiated more than a hundred investigations against unknown persons. Judge Maier-Göring also addressed the “partially heated mood among the population in relation to the local proceedings”. There is a risk of “unreasonable public denunciation”, which is why both the victim and the accused must be particularly protected from “private concerns about them becoming known and disseminated”.
The courtroom of the Hamburg Regional Court is filled to the last seat
© Markus Scholz / DPA
Due to the threat from the population, it is important that the public does not receive any further details, such as the young men’s place of residence or date of birth, which would enable the accused to be identified and found. According to the “Hamburger Abendblatt”, six of the alleged perpetrators were born in the Hanseatic city, the others in Poland, Libya, Egypt, Kuwait and Iran. A total of ten of the accused have a migration background. There was no arrest warrant for any of the young men, only one of them was briefly in custody. Several of them are said to be loud “Focus“However, he had already been violent before the alleged attack.
More than 40 witnesses questioned after the incident in the Hamburg city park
The police began investigating on the night of September 20th. The 15-year-old girl and the first witnesses have been questioned, video material from public surveillance cameras has been secured and the crime scene cordoned off. A few weeks later, the officials already had a first group of suspects, but no evidence could be found during subsequent house searches. The cell phone video, on which the rape is said to be seen, has not been found to this day, says court spokesman Wantzen star. However, there are witnesses who have seen the recordings and could describe them.
More than 40 witnesses had already been questioned in advance, and there were also forensic investigations and many other indications. According to Attorney General Fröhlich, the careful processing of this “under no circumstances clear facts” is the reason for the long time that has passed before the indictment. The analysis of DNA – nine different traces of sperm – also took time. Only then could the group of suspects be determined more precisely. However, assigning specific actions to individuals remains a challenge.
More than 40 process days
“The traces testify to the presence at the crime scene,” says court spokesman Wantzen. “But they say nothing about the course of events.” The young men, who are now between 18 and 22 years old, have each been assigned a public defender. Only after the lawyers had gained access to the files and commented could a final assessment and indictment be made. In the course of the hearing it will also become clear according to which law the individual accused are to be judged.
Three of them were minors at the time of the crime, and youth criminal law applies to them. From a legal point of view, the remaining alleged perpetrators are considered “adolescents”. “The level of development will be assessed for them,” explains court spokesman Wantzen in an interview with the star. Mental maturity then determines whether adult or juvenile criminal law applies to them. This is one of the reasons why the viewers are excluded from the process.
The Hamburg City Park. What exactly happened on the night of September 20, 2020 should be clarified in the course of the process.
© Marcus Brandt / Picture Alliance
Because at a public main hearing, further stigmatization and prejudice can be expected due to previous reporting and calls for violence from the population, “which could have a negative educational influence on the accused,” read Judge Maier-Göring from the decision. The educational interest and the special protection of the intimate and sexual area are in the foreground. Therefore, the public can also be excluded from the pronouncement of the verdict, “if this should be necessary based on the knowledge and the course of the main hearing”, is the final sentence of the declaration. The verdict is expected in December at the earliest. More than 40 days of negotiations are planned for the process.
Sources: “Focus“, “Hamburger Abendblatt (I)“, “Hamburger Abendblatt (II)“, “Hamburger Abendblatt (III)“, “Hamburger Abendblatt (IV)“