The Court in Mons found a high-ranking EU Commission official guilty of raping a colleague 20 years his junior and sentenced him to a four-year suspended jail term, on September 12.
Margus Rahuoja, a former director of the Commission’s DG Mobility and Transport in 2015, is the EU official in question.
The Court of Brussels first condemned Rahuoja. The defendant had planned a party “to thank the staff and celebrate the birth of his daughter,” but things “developed, it degraded,” according to a judge at the court named Luc Hennart in 2019.
However, “after looking at all the evidence, the court found there had been no agreement,” said Hennart. The defendant argued that their connection was consensual.
The accused was 20 years of Rahuoja’s junior and was working under his supervision at the time, which the court acknowledged as aggravating.
Rahuoja was sentenced to four years in prison and ordered to pay the victim almost €30,000 in restitution. His civic rights, including the ability to vote, were suspended for a period of five years.
Rahuoja tried to appeal the decision but was given a six-year jail term instead. However, he challenged the decision until the matter was retried in the Mons criminal court, where he is now facing a four-year suspended sentence.
Rahuoja was fired by the Commission, although it is claimed that he was receiving a €14,000 net monthly income throughout the current legal processes, which began in 2015.
Jean Quatremer said in Libération that it “is the equivalent of extended paid leave… He will not even have spent one hour behind bars.”
It is still unknown if the Commission will now terminate his pension.
