A German man has been found guilty of drugging and raping his unconscious wife for years and sharing video of his crimes on the internet, in a case that has drawn comparisons to the trial of Dominique Pelicot in France.
Fernando P., a 61-year-old school janitor, was found guilty of abusing his wife inside the couple’s home, filming it and then sharing it online without the victim’s knowledge.
He was sentenced Friday to 8 years and 6 months in prison following a trial at a court in Aachen, western Germany. An appeal may be filed against the judgment within one week, the court said.
There’s a fair argument for a longer sentence for such a horrible crime, but for Germany this is pretty long, prison sentences are not as inflated there as in the USA.
And you really don’t want to start inching towards American sentence lengths
24 life sentences for forgetting I had a case of water under the cart? One life sentence per bottle. You got away with the packaging. They didn’t even make it into my car!
Hang your Christmas lights wrong? That’s a hanging.
“in America, we fight for freedom and liberty!”
to judge and prosecute others.*
It is pretty long by European standards. At the same time, it does feel unjust when the culprit gets a shorter sentence than he gave his victim.
Does Germany have a sex offender registry? If so, the social sentence may continue well after release. While not quite the same, hopefully she can begin healing and move on with her life while his torment just begins.
The opposite, you have a right to privacy even after being sentenced. Such a registry sounds like it would drastically increase recidivism rates by making you unemployable and unable to form a social life.
It does. Signed, US Citizen.
My understanding of how most of Europe handles incarceration is that: instead of giving really long sentences, but allowing parole after x years like in the US, they give shorter sentences, and then they do a (yearly maybe?) review when the sentence is up to determine if the inmate has been rehabilitated enough to re-enter society.
So a 5 year sentence in Europe can end up being longer in practice if they determine the person isn’t fit to leave.
I think that’s only in cases of insanity. Those can turn into life long treatment/sentences. For normal sentences, if you’ve done your time, you’re free. And you can get parole at 2/3 of that for good behaviour.
At least in Netherland; obviously this can vary wildly per country. But in NL, the max sentence is 20 years, so even the worst murderer can get out after 13. Unless he’s declared insane.
This is actually not correct. In NL we have true life sentences, even without insanity. After 25 years you are potentially eligible for a royal pardon. Then you still get a psych evaluation etc. The only one who could get you out is a royal pardon by the king. Not that it happens a lot.
Yeah, I don’t think the king would ever pardon anyone without a pretty clear demand from the government, parliament or the public. (Turns out it’s happened 5 times in the past 55 years.)
But you’re right, and I was wrong. I thought that the only thing for which a true life sentence still exists, was treason during war time, and that’s not something that happens anymore. But that’s apparently not true at all; multiple homicide can also result in a life sentence, as can leading a terrorist organisation (presumably when the organisation causes multiple deaths).
So I stand corrected.