Secret world of heavy fetishism
2004-01-30 20:37
Kassel - The trial of a German cannibal, jailed for manslaughter Friday after killing and eating an apparently willing victim, has given a chilling insight into the secret world of extreme fetishism.
Armin Meiwes was sentenced to 8½ years in jail for fulfilling his dream of cannibalism and what the judges agreed was his victim's wish for "the ultimate kick".
But, without the internet, it might never have got so far.
"The deed would not have happened like that without the internet," said Meiwes's lawyer, Harald Ermel, afterwards. "It would have stayed in the realms of fantasy."
Presiding judge Volker Muetze, passing sentence in Kassel, central Germany, spoke of a barely believable online "sub-culture".
"This trial has opened the door to a world that one is tempted immediately to shut again."
Meiwes, a 42-year-old computer technician, met Bernd Juergen Brandes after advertising on a cannibal website under the pseudonym, Franky, for someone ready to be killed and eaten.
Taboo in modern society
Brandes, 43, an engineer with a girlfriend, coincidentally advertised as a willing sacrifice.
Their two fantasies - Meiwes of cannibalism, Brandes of extreme masochism, followed by death - became gruesome reality in Meiwes' idyllic hometown of Rotenburg.
Cannibalism has spanned centuries and cultures.
Seen by some as a religious rite, by others as revenge and by still others as a means of survival, it is a taboo in modern society.
Yet investigators who trawled through Meiwes's 16 computers and about 2 000 disks were stunned at the scale of the cannibal scene.
He had told the court there were thousands like him. "You can be sure many have not just remained in the realm of fantasy."
Meiwes was in contact with more than 200 people. Most wanted to be victims, others to be tortured, a detective testified. They included teachers, dentists and tradesmen.
Beyond those, Meiwes was also in touch with 13 users who wanted to watch a man being killed and eaten while 29 claimed to have committed similar acts or were interested in doing so.
At least five other would-be victims also answered Meiwes's appeal, although they either backed down or were rejected.
Judge Muetze said Meiwes wrote stories and created pictures that he "could never have dreamed of before this trial".
"Sick people live out their fantasies here when what they should really get is help," he added, referring to cannibal websites.
Call to ban cannibal-type websites
Although there was little to suggest actual crimes, he warned there was "a danger that somebody will commit them".
Such "helpless" people were not interested in what others wanted. "They all want to fulfill their own fantasies."
Jacques Buval, an author on cannibalism and serial killers who has attended this trial, said such websites should be banned.
"The internet opens up the way to cannibalism and murder for such people," he said after the verdict.
"A murderer does not walk down the street with a sign saying 'Who wants to be slaughtered?'. The internet offers him the opportunity to do that.
"I don't think that for some people it would stay a fantasy. If someone did not get the opportunity, they would go out and take it with violence."
Meanwhile, the site Meiwes advertised is going strong.
"Seeking young female flesh to torture and later to eat," a certain Freddy wrote recently.
"What young man up to 40, slim, wants to be slaughtered for real by a slim butcher aged 30? Mail with photo and your slaughter fantasy," asked another.
An open letter on the website urges observers not to pre-judge the "normal" people exchanging fantasies, saying that, even if people do arrange to meet, it does not go beyond sex and sado-masochism.
"The Rotenburg case is, of course, more than regrettable and I honestly hope it will not happen again," wrote its author.