Rapualla Ahmadze, an Afghan refugee, was sentenced on Tuesday to nine years in prison in Scotland after being convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl. Police said the attack took place in a park in Scotland in October last year.
Ahmadze denied the rape charge, claiming the sexual encounter was consensual.
Thomas Welsh, a judge at the High Court in Edinburgh, described the incident on Tuesday as “terrifying and violent”. Ahmadze was also found guilty of making threats and engaging in abusive behaviour.
According to his defence lawyer, Shaun Alexander, Ahmadze was born in Afghanistan and arrived in the UK in 2023 after what was described as a long and difficult journey.
Ahmadze told the court that he had joined the Afghan National Army as a teenager but was later arrested after the Taliban took control of the area. He said he managed to escape from a Taliban prison along with several other detainees, but was shot in the arm while fleeing.
The defence lawyer said a custodial sentence in the case was unavoidable, but warned that Ahmadze could face the risk of deportation to a country where his life would be in danger.
Police Scotland said in a statement that Ahmadze will now face the consequences of his action adding that they hope this conviction and sentence send a clear message that sexual violence has no place in Scotland.
