Five boys between the ages of 14 and 16 years will be prosecuted for assaulting a gay couple in Arnhem earlier this year, the Public Prosecutor announced on Wednesday. The exact charges against them will be revealed soon. The teenagers have to appear in juvenile court on December 19th, ANP reports.
As the suspects are underage, their trial will largely be held behind closed doors. All five boys are from Arnhem.
All five teenage boys suspected of assaulting a gay couple in Arnhem on Sunday were released from custody on Thursday. They are still considered suspects.
About 2 thousand people participated in a march against anti-LGBT violence through Amsterdam on Wednesday evening. The participants marched hand-in-hand from Dam Square to the Gay Monument at Westermarkt, ANP reports.
Gay couple Jasper and Ronnie who were attacked by a group of young people in Arnhem on Sunday morning are shocked that one of the suspects now claim that they started the fight, the couple said to Omroep Gelderland.
Gay couples in Amsterdam and Eindhoven also reported being assaulted because of their sexuality over the weekend. An 18-year-old man was arrested in connection with the Eindhoven incident. The Amsterdam police are still looking for the perpetrator.
The couple in Amsterdam were attacked on Kerkstraat late Saturday night. They spread pamphlets in the area calling for witnesses to come forward, AD reports. The police confirmed to the newspaper that the couple reported the assault and that it may have been a hate crime.
One of the boys suspected of assaulting a gay couple in Arnhem on Sunday morning denies throwing the first punch, the 16-year-old's lawyer said on Pauw on Monday. According to the teen, the two gay men shouted aggressive words to the group of young people and one of the men started the fight, ANP reports.
Police took four teenaged boys into custody late Sunday in connection with the assault of two gay men in Arnhem. The victims were holding hands walking home from a party early Sunday morning when they were confronted by a group of young men shouting slurs at them.
They were then struck by a man wielding a heavy set of bolt cutters, kocking out four of Ronnie Sewratan-Vernes' teeth and severing his lip, and injuring the ribs of Jasper Vernes-Sewratan. The two say they usually conceal their relationship in public, but were holding hands after a fun night out.
Gay couple Jasper Vernes-Sewratan and Ronnie Sewratan-Vernes were attacked by a group of men while walking home hand in hand from a party in Arnhem during the early hours of Sunday morning. Ronnie lost four teeth and part of a fifth in the attack. Jasper got away with bruised ribs and bruises on his back and knee, RTL Nieuws reports.
