A Swedish appeals court has reduced the prison sentences for two men convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl. The men now face five and a half years in prison plus lifetime deportation from Sweden.
The attack occurred in November last year in a suburb outside Gothenburg, Sweden's second-largest city. The men brought two 15-year-old girls to an apartment where the assault took place. One girl managed to escape and alert authorities.
The defendants were 18 and 28 years old at the time of the crime. A lower court had originally sentenced them to six years in prison.
The appeals court wrote that the punishment should exceed the minimum sentence for aggravated rape, which is five years in Sweden. But it also found the case warranted slightly less punishment than the lower court determined.
This case highlights Sweden's ongoing challenges with violent crime and judicial consistency. The sentence reduction comes despite growing public concern about sexual violence in the country.