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Uppsala 'Facebook rape' verdict to be appealed

TT/The Local
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Uppsala 'Facebook rape' verdict to be appealed
The verdict from the Uppsala rape trial (left) and an image from the preliminary investigation. Photo: Susanna Persson Öste/TT & Swedish Police/Handout

The outcome of the trial of three men who were sentenced to prison in connection with the rape of a woman which was broadcast live on Facebook from Uppsala is to be appealed by both the prosecutor and a defence lawyer.

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In April, an 18-year-old man from Afghanistan was sentenced to one year in jail for rape, and a 21-year-old from the same country for two years and four months. A third man, a 24-year-old Swedish citizen who was behind the camera, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for gross defamation and failing to report rape.

Prosecutor Pontus Melander wants the 24-year-old to be convicted of complicity in rape however and a tougher sentence to be handed out as a result. Melander has also appealed the sentences given to the other two men, which he considers to be too low.

READ ALSO: 'Facebook rape video' trio sentenced to prison

The 21-year-old's lawyer, meanwhile, has appealed his conviction and instead wants his client who denied the crime to be acquitted entirely.

The three men were arrested in January after police were alerted to a suspected ongoing sexual assault by witnesses, who reported watching the crime being committed live in a closed Facebook group with more than 60,000 members.

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