Outrage in Croatia over release of teen gang rape suspects

Anger is brewing in Croatia after a judge released five men suspected of gang-raping a 15-year-old girl from their village, triggering calls for protests against a judiciary that women say is failing to protect them.
        The suspects, aged between 19 and 20, are accused by police of repeatedly raping their teenage victim for nearly a year in their village outside the coastal town of Zadar. They also allegedly filmed the abuse on smartphones and then blackmailed the girl with the footage, until she eventually told her school's psychologist, local media reported. Last weekend the suspects were questioned by a judge but allowed to walk free while the investigation is ongoing, a ruling that shocked many in the Balkan state. Following a week of public outcry, state-run television HRT reported late Thursday that the decision had been reversed. The five suspects, who are not indicted, will be brought back into custody, according to the report. Officials declined to comment. The initial ruling had set off a flurry of anger, with women's rights groups slamming the latest sign of a failure to tackle a scourge of sexual and domestic violence. "Horror in Zadar: Experts and activists outraged over court decision", read a headline in the daily Jutarnji List paper. Another local daily announced that judges had "delivered" the victim back to her abusers.

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