Oct. 2 (UPI) — A Swedish court on Monday found a French photographer — whose connection to the Swedish Academy resulted in the delay of this year’s Nobel Prize in literature — guilty of rape.
The Stockholm district court reached a unanimous verdict to sentence Jean-Claude Arnault, 72, to the minimum sentence of two years in prison, The Guardian reported.
Judge Gudrun Antemar said there was “sufficient evidence, consisting mainly of statements during the trial by the injured party and several witnesses,” to convict Arnault on one of two counts of rape he faced.
Public prosecutor Christina Voigt called for Arnault to be sentenced to three years in prison, short of the maximum sentence of six years.
He was found guilty of rape for forcing a woman to engage in oral sex and intercourse in a Stockholm apartment on Oct. 5, 2011, but was acquitted on charges that he raped her again two months later.
Arnault’s lawyer, Björn Hurtig, said his client denies all charges against him, saying they were based on fundamentally flawed evidence, and that he would appeal the ruling.
Arnault’s wife, Katarina Frostenson, was a member of the Swedish Academy — the body that awards the Nobel literature prize — and many of the 18 women who came forward with sexual assault charges against Arnault said the assaults took place on academy property.
The academy said it was informed about accusations of sexual assault against Arnault in 1996, but took no action.
Eight women filed formal legal complaints, but seven of the cases were dropped as they either exceeded the statute of limitations or lacked necessary evidence.
Seven of the academy’s 18 members, including Frostenson, resigned in April after the allegations.
