L-R: Jasper and Ronnie Vernes-Sewratan were attacked in April 2017 after walking home from a club hand-in-hand (Photo: Facebook)
Four teenage boys in the Netherlands have been found guilty of assaulting a gay couple.
However, despite shouting anti-gay abuse at the men during the attack, a judge has said that it could not be proven that they had homophobic intent.
The attack happened Sunday 2 April 2017 in the town of Arnhem, near the German border. Jasper Vernes-Sewratan and his husband, Ronnie Sewratan-Vernes, aged 31 and 35, were on their way home from a party at local club Luxor Live.
They were walking hand-in-hand when they were attacked by the group. The men say the assailants beat them with bolt cutters. Ronnie lost four front teeth, as well as part of a fifth one, and suffered a severed lip. His husband suffered bruised ribs and bruises on his back and knee.
They say the boys said ‘homo’ and ‘flikker’ – the Dutch word for ‘faggot’ – during the assault.
Hand-holding protest across Netherlands
The attack prompted widespread condemnation and media attention. Police at the time said they were investigating whether there was an anti-gay motive to the attack.
Male politicians, celebrities – both gay and straight – made a point of holding hands to show how inoffensive the gesture is.
Police initially arrested six young men and later charged four of them for the attack. Three of them are aged 17 and one is 15. Because of their age, they have not been named.
At a court in Arnhem on Monday, they were found guilty of assault and sentenced to between 80 and 160 hours of community service.
However, the judge said that although it was plausible that homophobic language was used against the victims, this did not prove homophobic intent behind the attack. He also said that it had not been proven that bolt cutters had been used in the attack.
The public prosecutor similarly did not ask for a homophobic motive to be taken into consideration for sentencing.
In addition to the community service hours, the attacked must also pay their victims financial compensation of €4,276.61 ($5,290) and €577.23 ($714).
‘My clients came across the boys and were called homo, fagot, and dirty because they are visibly gay’
According to NLTimes, a lawyer representing the victims expressed disappointment that the sentences did not reflect a hate-crime motive.
‘My clients came across the boys and were called homo, fagot, and dirty because they are visibly gay. They were chased and assaulted by these boys.’
On Facebook, Jasper and Ronnie expressed their own disappointment.
‘What are we supposed to find as a victim of the verdict? Well, we are only moderately satisfied because at the end of the day we are in the same position, but we are not satisfied with the extent of the punishment,’ said Ronnie.
‘How can you give 160 and 80 hours after what we’ve been through for a year? How can you compare this to what we are going through every day? And how can you compare this to what we might expect in the future? Besides, I’ve been with no teeth for 53 weeks!’
They said they were considering whether to take further legal action against the assailants.
