17-07-2025
Irishwoman went through ‘absolute nightmare' after alleged rape in Amsterdam, court told
The incident was filmed by on-lookers and was widely circulated on social media.
An Irishwoman in her 30s who was allegedly raped in Amsterdam says she remembers nothing of the incident, a public prosecutor told a pre-trial hearing for the case.
The suspect, who is an Italian national in his 20s, is accused of raping the woman on King's Day earlier this year.
The Dutch holiday, which is held annually on April 27, marks the birthday of the Netherlands' current king Willem-Alexander.
According to Dutch media, the hearing heard that after the woman was taken to the hospital following the incident, which occured at approximately 6.30pm in the evening, she was told that something sexual had happened to her.
She was then unable to recall anything about the incident and she did not recognise a photo of the suspect.
File photo of Amsterdam.
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The case has garnered national attention in the Netherlands after several videos of the incident began circulating on social media.
Onlookers had filmed the encounter that occurred in broad daylight between two parked cars along the Keizersgracht canal.
In the days following the alleged rape, the mayor of Amsterdam asked the public to stop sharing the 'deeply humiliating' videos.
"What happened on King's Day can only be described as an absolute nightmare", the prosecution stated in the first introductory hearing ahead of the trial.
They stated that the alleged victim only reported the incident after she had been videos of it in Ireland and realised it was about her.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the woman was clear that she did not want to have sex and she 'had no complete control over her movements'.
The woman was heavily drunk and was heard telling the man to stop in the video footage of the incident.
It was said that the man and the woman did not know each other before the day in the question as they had met earlier that day.
Bystanders intervened in the incident and pulled the man away from the woman, with police then arriving soon after. The man was not initially arrested as it had been suggested by bystanders that the two knew each other.
The man initially told police that the two had sex and 'made love' but later stated he did not remember anything about the evening in question.
Defence lawyer Sophie Hof described the situation as 'complex' and passersby may have been observing due to seeing two people 'kissing and stroking'.
"This case is not black or white. He doesn't remember anything. He is ashamed, towards the victim, and how he could get so drunk,' she added.
The court was asked to lift the pre-trial detention of the man but the request was not granted on the basis that the man is a flight risk. The trial will begin in October.
