Geelong man in court charged with “heinous” rape and assault

Jinan Disho, 42, is standing trial in the Geelong District Court on seven charges – three counts of rape, three counts of unlawful wounding and one count of threatening to kill during a series of alleged incidents in late 2018.

Mr Disho, who was assisted in court by an interpreter, pleaded not guilty to all charges.

During opening arguments in the trial on Wednesday, prosecutor Yildana Hardjadibrata told jurors that Mr. Disho repeatedly raped and assaulted a woman and threatened to kill her and others at another woman’s home with a kitchen knife.

Mr Hardjadibrata told the court that in one incident, Mr Disho hit the woman on the side of the head, rendering her unconscious.

On another occasion, Mr Disho allegedly raped the woman after watching a pornographic film and demanding that she “do what the girls in the film do… or be prepared for the consequences”.

“When she objected, he hit her and hit her,” Mr Hardjadibrata said.

Prosecutors allege Mr Disho told the woman he would “get what he wanted – with her permission or without her permission” before proceeding with the alleged rape.

In a third incident, the alleged victim was punched and pushed against a wall.

The court heard the woman “continually asked him to stop” while he raped her.

The trial was told that Mr Disho was born and raised in Iraq but fled the country to Jordan in 2015 when the Islamic State (ISIS) took control of parts of the country.

In 2018, Mr Disho came to Australia as a refugee and settled in Geelong.

Mr Disho’s lawyer, Jonathan Barreiro, told the jury the allegations were “clear, serious and abhorrent” but said the jury could not be satisfied with the prosecution’s case.

Mr Barreiro asked the jury whether Mr Disho would “risk everything and commit these offenses” after arriving in Australia?

Mr. Disho denies the allegations “in the strongest possible terms,” Mr. Barreiro said.

Mr Barreiro told the jury it was “not a matter of consent” as Mr Disho denied there was any sexual intercourse or physical violence during the alleged incidents.

Mr Barreiro said the “chronology” of the case highlighted how “outdated” the allegations were and said he would ask the jury to consider some elements of the case “really carefully” – including why the complainant made the allegations raised.

“I would like to emphasize that in this trial you should pay close attention to the manner of the investigation and the efforts of the police,” Mr Barreiro told the jury.

“Is the quality of the evidence meeting your expectations to prove these serious allegations?”

The trial continues before Judge George Georgiou.

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