State prosecutor seeks Supreme Court appeal in rape case

Iceland’s state prosecutor has asked for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal acquitted a man in a rape case last month. The man had been sentenced to five years in prison by a district court, mbl.is reported.

Reykjavik District Court had also ordered him to pay 2.5 million krónur in compensation. A two-judge majority of the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction and dismissed the compensation claim. The third judge, Ingibjörg Þorsteinsdóttir, dissented and said the prison sentence and compensation should stand.

The case concerned events at the man’s home in Reykjavik in April 2023. He was charged with using violence and unlawful coercion to engage in sexual acts other than intercourse with a woman without her consent. He said they had agreed to BDSM sex and that the intensity of the acts had been consensual.

The majority said it had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt that he had intentionally gone beyond the woman’s consent, and that the prosecution had to bear the burden of the lack of evidence. Þorsteinsdóttir said she was convinced beyond doubt that he had used substantially more violence than the woman had consented to.

The ruling drew criticism. In an interview with mbl.is on October 20, Drífa Snædal, a spokesperson for Stígamót, said the way the Court of Appeal handles sexual offence cases should be examined. She said Stígamót had encountered men using BDSM as an excuse to avoid responsibility, and expressed concern that rulings like this could discourage victims from reporting sexual offences.

The board of BDSM in Iceland also condemned the majority ruling, saying BDSM should not be used to justify serious violence or bodily injury. It stressed that consent applies only to the acts and limits participants have agreed to, and can always be withdrawn.