A Geneva criminal court has sentenced an Algerian national to eight years in prison for the rape of an American tourist in the Swiss city’s Old Town in 2024, rejecting the defense’s call for acquittal and concluding that the assault was carried out with particular cruelty.
Presiding judge Sylvie Bertrand-Curreli said the facts left “no room for any other interpretation.” The court also ordered the man to be deported from Switzerland for 12 years after completing his sentence.
The verdict, delivered on Thursday, rested heavily on CCTV footage from the lobby of a hotel on Rue de la Rôtisserie, as well as forensic findings and the credibility of the victim’s account. The judges found that the woman, who was heavily intoxicated at the time, had clearly and repeatedly resisted the attacker, and that violence was used well beyond what would have been required to overcome her resistance.
Footage shown in court depicts the man following the woman into the hotel lobby shortly before 2 a.m. on Feb. 26, 2024. As reported by TdG, he is seen forcibly embracing and kissing her as she struggles to maintain her balance. As she pushes him away, his behavior becomes increasingly aggressive. The video shows her clinging to a wall in an attempt to prevent him from dragging her into a stairwell, which lies outside the camera’s field of view. Minutes later, the woman is seen leaving the area in a state of shock, partially undressed. The man reappears shortly afterward, zipping up his trousers.
Although the rape itself occurred off camera, the court said there was no doubt as to what had taken place. Judges described the victim’s testimony as “consistent, coherent, and measured,” noting that minor omissions or variations in her statements were consistent with the psychological effects of trauma. Forensic experts documented blows to the head, including a concussion, and confirmed the presence of the assailant’s DNA on the victim’s mouth, genitals, and clothing. The absence of semen traces, raised by the defense, did not undermine the finding of penetration, the judges said.
The court also upheld the aggravating circumstance of cruelty, concluding that the attacker had exceeded what was necessary to subdue the victim and had acted in a way that caused terror.
During the trial, the defendant, a man in his thirties, did not dispute that he was the individual shown in the footage but claimed to have no memory of the events, citing heavy consumption of alcohol, hashish, and cocaine. Judges noted that he did not appear impaired in the video. He attempted to suggest mutual consent, a claim the court dismissed as incompatible with the images and other evidence.
The victim, a mother of three and a psychologist from the United States, traveled to Geneva to attend the trial nearly two years after the assault. She told the court that she had been in the city with her family and friends and had been drinking heavily on the night of the attack. She described being approached outside her hotel by a man offering cocaine, which she refused, before encountering him again inside the lobby, where he became violent. Passersby later found her barefoot and disoriented in the street, and she reported having been raped and beaten, including losing consciousness.
Prosecutors had sought a nine-year prison sentence, arguing that the case represented “every woman’s nightmare.” The defense maintained that rape had not been proven and called for acquittal, a position rejected unequivocally by the court.
After the assault, the suspect fled Switzerland and was arrested days later in Aosta, Italy, after crossing the border through the Great St. Bernard Tunnel. Italian authorities reported that he attempted to evade a police roadblock and crashed into a police vehicle before being detained. He was later extradited to Geneva to stand trial.
