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A SWEDISH COURT has overturned a rape conviction for a man who performed a forced “infidelity check” on his girlfriend, prompting calls for rape laws to be changed.
Rachid Zoghlami was convicted of rape and sentenced to two years and eight months in jail in December, after he penetrated his girlfriend with his fingers to determine whether she had been unfaithful.
But a court of appeal in Stockholm ruled that the 28-year-old’s actions were to be viewed as coercion rather than rape since they weren’t driven by “sexual intent”, then reduced his sentence to 18 months behind bars.
“I believe this judgement is erroneous. My client is obviously disappointed. She finds it hard to understand the court’s reasoning,” the plaintiff’s lawyer, Marianne Jargenius, told AFP.
Zoghlami, who holds dual Finnish-Tunisian citizenship, admitted to being jealous but said he used no violence against girlfriend Carina Johansson, 30, when using two fingers to “search for sperm.”
Johansson argued otherwise, claiming he ripped off her sweat pants and her underwear after allegedly threatening to perform an “infidelity check.”
The plaintiff and defendant had both taken a prescription drug used to treat alcoholism during their relationship, the court noted.
The ruling prompted calls for the Swedish law to be changed to broaden the definition of a sexual crime.
“If I were to decide, these types of actions should be considered a sex crime,” Petter Asp, a professor of criminal law at Stockholm University told daily Svenska Dagbladet.
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Cue the Stoners defending drug use and wanting it legalised.
@Abdul Abhaile: Can you give one good reason why it should remain illegal?
@Tomaldo: Did you even bother reading the article and you want a reason why it should remain illegal?
Jeez, Stoner’s brains really are wired differently.
@Abdul Abhaile: I read it twice. Jim Walsh (Dept of Health) said we should treat it a as health issue, not justice, the guy from Portugal said we’ll never have a drugs free society and there never has been. 6 out of 10 deaths were caused by benzodiazepenes (legal), twice as many as cocaine, 3 out 10 Methadone (legal) and more from prescription drugs. There are no plans to ban any of them and rightly so. Can I have some of what you’re smoking.
@Abdul Abhaile: btw you didn’t answer my question, you mentioned the article which backs up my opinion that they should be legal.
@Abdul Abhaile: the only thing stoner, is your Stone Age attitude . Why not suggest burnings at the stake or tarring and feathering .
Alcohol poses more danger .. oh wait, but they are well looked after by lobbyists
Why are so many resorting to drug taking, are their lives so miserable that they are trying to escape reality some of the time. Past generations suffered wars, sickness, hunger , poverty lack of opportunity , forced emigration and they coped , what’s wrong with people. Why do they think it’s ok to make criminals rich by buying the stuff.
@Aine O Connor: they didn’t cope, they used alcohol, drugs , food , sex and lots of other things to take away the pain . Drug use isn’t some new thing, drug use has been around as long as humans have been around
@Aine O Connor: they didn’t cope, they used alcohol, drugs , food , sex and lots of other things to take away the pain . Drug use isn’t some new thing, drug use has been around as long as humans have been around Cee
@Aine O Connor: Enjoyment is the reason. I don’t think it’s ok to make criminals rich, that’s why I’d love to see legalisation tried.
@Aine O Connor: Many of the addicts you walk past in the city every day are child abuse victims. Children of generations of abuse victim unfit parents, etc. It’s a part of our cultural heritage.
@Aine O Connor: This is a reflection of the vast minority, the majority of recreational users move on with their lives.
While speaking, an individual proposed that only those with expertise in the field should have a say, and the issue should not be politicized. However, I respectfully disagree, as it is a crucial political matter.
Must be FG FF and The Greens fault that people use cocaine and heroin
@Peter: well their policies have directly lead to deprivation, criminality increasing and all the things that make up the ingredients of drug misuse.. so yes FFG are directly responsible. Martin and Varadkar do not give two hoots about us Irish
The reason why cannabis was made illegal was by fake news by the rich newspaper magnets in America long ago who owned forests so they could print their papers and didn’t want the hemp plant to be used
No one has ever died from a cannabis over dose, yet because it remains illegal in this country it gets first mention in terms of toxins found. The language around this is almost embarrassingly bias, especially when “excluding those attributable to alcohol alone”… completely ridiculous, propaganda almost.
Funny how alcohol is left out of the debate, the biggest killer of them all. Your a criminal for smoking a joint at home but its OK to drink 10 pints and fall around the streets abusing people. Hardly an independent forum either with the make up of the panel. People take drugs including the biggest of them all booze because they enjoy them. We should be concentrating on making them safe, ensuring kids don’t get their hand on them (although we failed on the alcohol front) and having controlled sale via head shops where the state will get tax from the sale of same and at the same time take the market away from the mafia.
The report clearly refers to the cause of such deaths as poisonings, converting them to overdoses is wrong and inaccurate. If someone injests Paraguay,for example, intentionally or accidentally it is not an overdose.
@Pato: agree, they are just inflating the figures to justify their forgone conclusion.
Judge’s are putting dealers back on the street with lenient sentences. Time to cut the head off the snake.
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