Siblings sentenced for imprisoning gay brother
Happened in Denmark, so article is in Danish. Put it into DeepL to translate important bits:
Four siblings, a brother and three sisters, were sentenced to prison by the Court in Glostrup on Friday for imprisoning their 26-year-old brother in September 2023.
The case began in the fall of 2023 when police broke into the family's apartment in Brøndby and found a 26-year-old man in a small broom cupboard.
In addition to imprisonment, all four will also be expelled from Denmark. The two oldest sisters will be banned from entering Denmark permanently, while the youngest sister and brother will be banned for a number of years. All four convicted siblings are Italian citizens and will therefore be deported to Italy. The siblings grew up in Sicily and have roots in Tunisia. They are Muslim, and according to the prosecution, their actions stem from that cultural background.
Specifically what happened to him can be read in this article. Translation collapsed because of gruesomeness:
**Content warning**: description of torture
On a Monday in September 2023, police broke into a dark storage room in a small apartment in Brøndby.
They found an emaciated young man lying on a thin mattress with nothing but a jug of water and a bucket in the corner.
The young man had been locked up here for 35 days. This is stated in the indictment in the case, which is expected to end on Friday.
According to the indictment, four siblings, three women and a man, kept their brother locked in a small locked room with no windows or light for over a month because he told them he was gay.
He was denied food or drink at times and forced to sleep on a thin, scabies-infested mattress and defecate in a bucket.
The young man only escaped after 35 days when a neighbor heard him crying for help and immediately called the police.
By then he had lost 14 kilos, had symptoms of scabies and several bruises from blows.
If anyone thinks this is too much to share then please let me know - I will delete the thread if it is. I did put the homophobia and downer tags though so hopefully everyone who do not wish to see this stuff have already filtered that. Just sharing because I'm shocked this can happen in Denmark.
I don't really know what to say except "what the fuck?"
I don't think this shouldn't be shared, it's rough, no doubt, but yeah. I think it's worth knowing that it can happen anywhere and with any one who has such confidence in the righteousness of their worldviews that they're willing to torture someone to enforce them.
In the similar cases I've seen, such as Shanda Vander Ark, it felt like there is never any remorse and a "I can't believe what the victim made me do to them" mentality. I know it's wrong of me, but it makes me wish for more creative punishments. Specifically I've been skeptical that anything short of putting them in the same situation would make these kinds of people comprehend what they've done.
That comes at the expense of making the society behind such a punishment complicit in what it says is wrong. It's hypocrisy. But such guard rails on the judicial system make me think the ideal sentence is life in prison with a slim chance for parole.
I think my feeling that way isn't even so much about justice or retribution, but to force something resembling empathy via a literal "putting in shoes" rather than the metaphorical one they seem incapable of. I don't know enough about this case in particular, but I watched a lot of the Shanda Vander Ark trial footage and all throughout she seemed to still think she's the victim for being prosecuted. She doesn't seem capable of comprehending how horrific the life she put her son through was. And I don't think she ever will. The translated article has the siblings suggesting that torturing him was for his own good so it makes me feel they're in a similar boat of not getting why it is wrong.
But yeah, I know its wrong. In the same way as I don't believe in the death penalty even for murderers.
How long were they sentenced to? That’s missing from the translation and seems kind of important. Hopefully for quite a long time.
The US has particularly long sentences, so this is less than will "feel" right but I think it's likely correct.
The brother described almost an "exorcism" which wouldn't be the first time people have tried to remove demons from queer people though violence
Earlier article
Yeah sure.
(Used Google's automatic translation of the articles)
Thanks for the translation.
I’m US based and that does seem like a light sentence to me. I tend to think that most sentences for crimes in the US are way, way too harsh but keeping someone in those of conditions is awful without adding in the fact that it was a hate crime.
It reminds me of the case of Genie.
It’s light to me too. We have extremely light sentences in general. “Life in prison” is 16 years lol
There are also some to me awful cases of serial sexual violence where they get like 2 years. Or murders where they get 5 or 8 or so.
But experts say that extreme sentences do not work, so I guess we have to trust that.. on the other hand, crimes like this? I don’t want to see these kinds of people rehabilitated. I want them behind bars away from the nonviolent population so that they can’t do harm to anyone ever again.
I agree with the rehabilitation mindset, but there are some people who just can't be rehabilitated. Or at least, not in the timeframe these people will be incarcerated. This is a problem with their total mindset and ideology. That's not some bad behavior you can correct in a short time, not without the people experiencing some life-altering epiphany that makes them want to change.
They're also being deported, so there's a secondary punishment happening here.
Considering the US system mostly doesn't even try to change anyone's mind about anything, I'll at least give European systems credit for having more rehabilitation and less "you deserve to eat rats so you better appreciate the food you get"
Personally I want criminal justice reform in the US so it'd be hypocritical of me to demand life sentences for things I just personally am pissed off by.
(@smoontjes doesn't Denmark have indeterminate life sentences where they usually do get released at some point but it requires a parole hearing and exactly when they're released is based on their likelihood of recidivism? Give or take any politics around it at least?)
If you are found to be mentally unsound, you can be kept in an institution until a doctor says you are no longer a danger to society.
That is a separate thing - a "custodial" sentence I believe. I ended up on the wikipedia so I probably don't have everything straight, but I did see that you could be held longer on a life sentence, or shorter, with an average of 14 years . Which based on my experience working with murderers, for example, is probably enough for most of them.
Deportations are not rare and happen a lot here.
I do agree though that it is a secondary punishment, and in this case, deserved.
Yes, however in the whole year of 2024 only 20 people were given this sentence. 32 people from 2006-2014. 67 from 2015-2024. Source. I don't know about the "usually get released" though.
It's similar to Norway's Anders Breivik which I think is the most famous example of it.
Yeah it said the average was like 14 years and a few notables were held for more like 30ish. Brevik was indeed the most similar well known comparison
It's incredibly rare in contrast with the US.
Found [this]. You're right, 13½ years on average. Lifetime sentence is minimum 12 years.
(the link didn't appear)
I was operating off wikipedia so I'm sure your info is most accurate!
Oh lol I forgot it. https://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE16212578/forklaring-her-er-forskellen-paa-livstid-og-forvaring/
Google used "pre-trial detention" as the translation.
Pre-trial detention is definitely not right either. Found this though, that's what it is, so mystery solved! 😅
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preventive_detention