Has Europe Had Enough?

I hope so:

A German woman reacting to the vicious gang rape of a 15-year-old by ten predominately migrant men is set to spend a weekend behind bars for alleged “hate postings” made over WhatsApp to one of the attackers.

The gang rape was perpetrated in September 2020 in a prominent public park in Hamburg, with the ten men, ranging from 16 to 20 years old, taking advantage of the teen’s inebriated state and the lack of witnesses due to ongoing lockdown measures. 

The nature of the gang rape, as well as the fact it was organized over a group chat, attracted particular horror in the courtroom and the popular press.

German press reports that five of the ten men were non-German nationals, including from Afghanistan and Syria, with all of the attackers of non-German extraction. Only one of the men found guilty at the trial was given a prison sentence—of two years and nine months. The rest of the attackers were given mild community service and suspended sentences.

A juvenile court in Hamburg received intense online criticism for the judicial decision to give nine out of the ten men non-custodial sentences. In the wake of the sentences, one of the rapists was identified by name online, and his cell phone number circulated on the Snapchat app.  

A 20-year-old woman, with no connection to either the victim or the perpetrators, admitted to police to sending threatening Whatsapp messages to one of the rapists. Among other things, she referred to him as a “dishonourable rapist pig” and a “disgusting freak,” asking him if he wasn’t ashamed when he looked in the mirror, and saying he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere “without getting a punch in the face.”

The public prosecutor described the woman’s messages as “a torrent of insults.” The 20-year-old expressed remorse and said she had vented her anger “without thinking twice” because she thought the rapist deserved it, but that she realised her actions didn’t “make anyone better.”

German authorities have announced that they are investigating 140 other individuals for ‘hate speech’ relating to the trial. 

District judge Anne Meier-Göring, responsible for handing out the lenient sentences for the rapists, found herself praised in left-leaning German publications for her ruling, with one in particular referring to the judge’s ruling as a sign she was not to be “pressured by public opinion-making” and calling her “brave and smart.”

 

(Sidebar: who wouldn't want this kind of cultural enrichment?)

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Isn't France the country that dealt with its absolutists?:

Opponents of France’s National Rally (RN) stepped up their bid to block the far-right party from power on Tuesday as more candidates agreed to pull out of this weekend’s run-off election to avoid splitting the anti-RN vote.

More than 200 candidates have confirmed they will not stand in Sunday’s second-round for France’s 577-seat national parliament, according to local media estimates. Others have until 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) to make their choice.

Marine Le Pen’s RN came out well ahead in Sunday’s first-round vote after President Emmanuel Macron’s gamble on a snap election backfired, leaving his centrist camp in a lowly third place behind the RN and a hastily formed left-wing alliance.

But even before the maneuvering of the last 24 hours to create a “republican front” to block the anti-immigrant, eurosceptic party, it was far from clear the RN could win the 289 seats needed for a majority.