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Sentence doubled for attacker of two gay men in Amsterdam

A man who assaulted two gay men in an Amsterdam park has had his sentence doubled to four months on appeal.

Gay rights organisation COC Amsterdam welcomed the increased penalty for the 30-year-old Polish man, who committed the attack in the Rembrandtpark in July this year.

He asked his victims if they were gay and, on being told they were, said: “I’ll show you what we do to gays in Poland” before punching and kicking them.

When police went to arrest him he threatened and spat on the officers.

After the offender was given a two-month jail sentence, one month of which was suspended, the state prosecutor’s office (Openbare Ministerie/OM) took the case to the higher court.

COC Amsterdam praised prosecutors for taking the case to the appeal court and said sentences for hate crimes needed to have a deterrent effect.

Chairman Dennis Boutkan said: “This shows that the OM takes homophobic violence very seriously. Thankfully, people who commit homophobic violence no longer get away with just a fine.”

Source: Het Parool: 'Extra zware straf homofoob geweld zeer terecht'

Photo by underdutchskies