A judge at the Volovets District Court sentenced boys accused of raping a girl in Transcarpathia in 2021 to six years in prison. The convicts were taken into custody in the courtroom.
This was reported by the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office.
The court also partially satisfied the claim of the injured party, who demanded 450 thousand hryvnias in moral compensation. Thus, the convicts must pay 300 thousand hryvnias, because part of it was reimbursed earlier.
The Miller law firm, whose lawyers represented the victim in the case, assumes that the defendants will file an appeal, so they emphasized that "the fight continues."
What is the matter?
A 14-year-old girl was raped on August 24, 2021 in Transcarpathia, in September her grandmother contacted the police. One 14-year-old and two 15-year-old teenagers, the victimʼs fellow villagers, were involved in this. They first lured the girl to the yard of one of the teenagers, and then to the basement. The girl had been friends with them for a long time, so she left.
One of them hit the girl, and then they all took turns raping her. The teenagers filmed the whole thing, then uploaded it to the Internet and showed it to their classmates at school. At trial, all three pleaded guilty.
On March 16, 2023, the Volovets District Court of the Transcarpathian region passed a verdict. The guys were sentenced to 5 years in prison, but were released from prison with a probationary period of 2 years. The court sentenced them under Article 153 of the Criminal Code (sexual violence without penetration), not under Article 152 (rape).
On August 11, 2023, the Transcarpathian Court of Appeal reviewed the verdict of the Volovets District Court. The court overturned the verdict of the first instance court and remanded the case for a new trial.
The Miller law firm stated that the suspectsʼ representatives tried in every way to delay the trial. In particular, they are talking about their attempt to mobilize, but then the Ministry of Defense refused them.
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