Eight Iraqi migrants jailed after being found guilty of gang raping a 28-year-old German tourist

Eight Iraqi nationals have been found guilty of gang-raping a German tourist on New Year's Eve, 31st December 2016 and have been sentenced by An Australian court to prison terms of between nine and 13 years. There was also a ninth suspect but his charges were dismissed after he said he had been asleep during the assaults.

All nine Iraqi men, ranging in age from 22 to 48, came to Austria as migrants between May and December 2015.
According to the testimony heard by the court, four of the men had taken advantage of the 28-year-old German woman who had been drunk at the time. She was taken to a Vienna apartment by four of the men where they were joined by the others who all took turns raping her. The woman regained consciousness after the alcohol wore off to find herself naked in bed.

Explaining the verdict and sentencing of the eight Iraqis, Judge Petra Poschalko said that only two of the defendants had helped the court establish the facts and only one had confessed.

There are fears among migrants and refugees that the crime will make Austrians hostile towards refugees.

Migrants and refugees from other countries expressed concern that the crime will make Austrians hostile toward all newcomers.

 Burhan Akbas, a migrant from Turkey strongly condemned the action saying;

"Eight people raping a woman... that's honor-less! Such a thing doesn't exist in our religion."

Mansur Salamou, an asylum-seeker from Chechnya, said;

"When such people come here and screw up like that, then everybody will think that Chechens, Afghans, all refugees from war areas are all the same. But it's not like that. For example, the majority of us — we also cause problems, commit crimes. But no rape! Only criminal assaults and robberies."

 The victim has been awarded 25,000 euros (over $26,000) in damages.