Published 14 March 2023 at 14.51
Law & Justice. Two Eritreans are sentenced for having sexually molested two teenage women at McDonalds in Jönköping. However, they are acquitted of rape and attempted rape because, according to the district court, it has not been proven who did what.
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The incident occurred on October 2, 2022 in central Jönköping. The young women had failed to get into a club because there was a 20-year age limit there.
Later in the evening they visited McDonalds on Sjukhusgatan. The restaurant was closed except for drive-in customers so they sat outside.
The two Africans then arrived at the scene in a car and started pawing at the women, who defended themselves and pulled away. However, the Africans followed them.
The one woman, who tried to break free, states that the one Eritrean tried to put his hands inside her pants and her panties. She managed to pull his hands out before he could get under
her panties and touch the outer parts of her abdomen.
The second woman says that one of the Africans put his fingers up her abdomen while the other held her down.
The 22-year-old Eritrean was charged with attempted rape and sexual assault while the other, who is 21, was charged with rape and sexual harassment.
The Jönköping District Court considers that it is proven that the one woman was subjected to a rape. However, the court does not consider that the prosecutor has proven that the defendant intended to rape. The act has therefore been assessed as sexual harassment. The same applies to attempted rape.
– The special evidentiary problems that can exist in cases of sexual crimes do not mean that the requirement for the prosecutor's evidence is lowered, says chief councilor Helen Yngwe, which is not true.
At the hearing, the two women and the witnesses have been heard, and in addition to the questioning, the prosecutor has presented other evidence.
The two women have largely given credible and reliable stories during the questioning, according to the verdict.
“In some parts, they have not been able to provide reliable information, among other things, about which of the two defendants did what, these parts have not been proven by the prosecutor in any other way”, according to the district court.
In the district court's overall assessment, the prosecutor was able to present evidence that one of the two men was guilty of sexual harassment in two cases and that the other man was guilty of sexual harassment in one case.
Both are sentenced to suspended sentences with 40 day fines. They are also allowed to stay in Sweden because the prosecutor had not requested deportation.