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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaMcCann suspect to stay silent in unrelated German rape trialPublished16 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsMadeleine McCann disappearanceImage caption, Christian Brückner is serving a seven-year jail term for rape committed in Portugal in 2005By Jessica ParkerBBC Berlin correspondentThe prime suspect in the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann in Portugal in 2007 is expected to stay largely silent at his forthcoming trial in Germany for unrelated sexual offences – according to his lawyer.Christian Brückner is due in court on 16 February, accused of five offences between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal. He is already serving a jail sentence for rape.Brückner has never been charged with Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.He has denied any involvement.Three-year-old Madeleine, from Rothley in Leicestershire, was on holiday with her family at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, in Portugal’s Algarve when she disappeared on 3 May 2007. Her whereabouts remain unknown.Brückner, a German national, was made a formal suspect by Portuguese prosecutors in 2022.He had already been identified as a suspect by German prosecutors in 2020, named at the time only as Christian B.Brückner’s lawyer told the BBC via email that he did not expect his client to make “substantive submissions” during the upcoming trial in Braunschweig, in Lower Saxony, which could last for months.”We will see whether the defendant will defend himself in silence or make statements denying individual acts,” said Friedrich Fülscher, a public defender.”At the moment, I do not assume that there will be any substantive submissions.” Brückner’s lawyer said that “no negative conclusions” could be drawn from this. “Whether a defendant declares ‘I have nothing to do with it’, ‘I am innocent’ or the like, or whether he uses his right to remain silent, leads to the same result in criminal proceedings,” said Mr Fülscher.”So this does not mean that there is something to hide, but is simply due to the fact that it makes sense from a procedural point of view.” Brückner would still be expected to confirm biographical details such as his name and date of birth.Braunschweig’s chief prosecutor has charged Brückner with five offences, alleged to have been carried out between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal, including the rape and sexual abuse of children.A subsequent ruling found that the court in Braunschweig had no jurisdiction over the case but that was later overturned. The five charges he faces include:The rape of an unidentified woman aged between 70 and 80 in her holiday home in Portugal at some point between 2000 and 2006The rape of a girl believed to have been at least 14 years old at his home in Praia da Luz at some point between 2000 and 2006The rape of a young woman after entering her apartment in 2004The sexual abuse of a child on a beach in 2007The sexual abuse of a child in a playground in 2017.Originally the case was taken up in Braunschweig because that was the region where he was last officially registered.Christian Brückner is currently serving a seven-year sentence for rape which he committed in 2005 in Portugal.The trial, due to start next week, will determine whether he remains behind bars at the end of that sentence.Related TopicsGermanyMadeleine McCann disappearancePortugalMore on this storyThe Madeleine McCann case: A timelinePublished22 May 2023Portuguese police apologise to Madeleine’s parentsPublished30 October 2023Police analyse objects after Madeleine searchPublished1 June 2023Suspect formally declared in Madeleine McCann casePublished22 April 2022Top StoriesWorld tops 1.5C warming threshold for full yearPublished4 minutes agoLabour ditches £28bn green investment pledgePublished4 hours agoNetanyahu rejects Hamas’s proposed ceasefire termsPublished4 hours agoFeaturesWhy Labour has junked its big money green policyThe Papers: William ‘gives thanks’ and ‘tone-deaf Tories”We are surrounded’: Guarding the Middle East’s most dangerous borderNorth Koreans working in China ‘exploited like slaves’Immersive screenings can weaken films – ScorseseWe don’t watch from the sidelines like Taylor SwiftIndian player sparks conversation on sexism in chessCould the Houthis sabotage undersea cables?Weather data casts doubt on government’s small boats claimElsewhere on the BBCThe mid-life crisis of an aristocrat-turned-pirateJoin Stede and his crew on a voyage of hilarious self discoveryAttributioniPlayerThe art of healthy eatingProfessor Tim Spector offers a new approach to the way we eat foodAttributionSoundsHow are jelly beans made?Gregg Wallace visits a factory in Dublin that makes over ten million of the sweets per day!AttributioniPlayerReady to get off the sofa?The Van Tulleken twins explore the science of exercise and the dangers of inactivityAttributionSoundsMost Read1William ‘gives thanks’ and ‘tone-deaf Tories’2Labour ditches £28bn green investment pledge3US drone kills Iran-backed militia leader in Baghdad4Men on Viagra may reduce Alzheimer’s risk – study5Amber snow and ice warnings issued by Met Office6Woman hit by Tube trains takes TfL to High Court7Netanyahu rejects Hamas’s proposed ceasefire terms8William says public sympathy ‘means a great deal’9Concern raised months before bailed man murdered mum10Clapham suspect arranged to meet victim before attack
[ad_1] Convicted sex offender Christian Brückner is due in court next week, accused of five offences.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityAsiaChinaIndiaDivya Deshmukh: India chess player’s Instagram post sparks sexism discussionPublished40 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Tata Steel ChessImage caption, Divya Deshmukh’s Instagram post has sparked a discussion on sexism in chessBy Cherylann MollanBBC News, MumbaiAn 18-year-old Indian chess player has sparked a conversation on attitudes towards women in the sport with an Instagram post about her experiences.Divya Deshmukh, who is an International Master (the second-highest title in chess), said that her chess videos often received online comments that focused on her appearance rather than her games. “It’s a sad truth that when women play chess, [people] often overlook how good they actually are… and every irrelevant thing is focused on,” she wrote, adding that she had wanted to address the issue “for a while”. Deshmukh shared the post at the end of the recent Tata Steel Chess tournament held in the Netherlands as she said that the behaviour of the audience had irked her throughout the competition. The organisers of the tournament later issued a statement supporting her and said that they “remain committed to promoting women in chess and ensuring a safe and equal sporting environment”.Sexism is still an under-discussed topic in chess, the only mainstream sport where men and women often compete against each other. Deshmukh’s post, experts say, has ignited a crucial conversation on the behaviour of fans and even male players towards women in chess – even Susan Polgar, the world’s first woman grandmaster, joined in.Deshmukh told the BBC that she has been receiving hateful comments related to the way she dresses, looks or speaks since she was 14 years old. “It makes me sad that people don’t pay the same kind of attention to my chess skills,” she said.Thousands of people have liked her post, and many have left supportive comments. One Reddit user noted how even seemingly innocuous jokes and comments were often “laced with sexist attitudes” while another said that it was common for people to leave sexually suggestive remarks under videos featuring women players.The Indian siblings taking the chess world by stormIndia chess prodigy’s ‘remarkable’ impact on the sport”With an increase in online tournaments and with games being livestreamed, women players have become disproportionately vulnerable to receiving misogynistic comments from the predominantly male audience online,” says sports writer Susan Ninan, who has written extensively about chess.She adds that such trolling deepens sexist attitudes about chess and can impact the confidence of young women players. As a sport, chess already has a poor gender balance. According to the International Chess Federation or FIDE, women make up just 10% of licenced players globally, and the gap only gets wider at the top. For example, only three of India’s 84 grandmasters are women. Chess experts and women players have ascribed this imbalance to the lack of access, opportunity and support for women and girls due to stereotypes surrounding the sport.”There’s this common misconception that men are ‘wired differently’ and are hence, inherently better at chess,” says Ms Ninan, adding that such beliefs are amplified online, feeding into existing socio-cultural biases people have about women and their intellectual abilities.Image source, Arman KarakhanyanImage caption, Koneru Humpy is one of India’s top chess playersIn a study conducted by researchers at New York University for which around 300 parents and mentors – 90% of these were men – were interviewed, it was found that a majority of the respondents believed that girls have a lower potential in the sport than boys and that they were more likely to stop playing chess due to a lack of ability than their male counterparts.Nandhini Saripalli, a chess player and coach, says she has experienced first-hand the consequences of such biases. She says that her chess career took a hit because she didn’t get enough support compared with her male counterparts. And now, she says that her career as a coach is being hampered because society doesn’t have much confidence in a woman’s chess-playing ability. “Parents want their children to be mentored by a male coach because they feel that male players are more talented,” she says.Observers also say that online trolling feeds into the culture of women players and tournaments not being taken seriously.Saripalli says that online, she has had men telling her that her male opponent can “trash” her easily, while offline, she has encountered male players who’ve said that they don’t feel the need to practise if their opponent is a woman because they don’t consider female players to be “real competition”.”Women have to work twice as hard to prove themselves, and even then you can’t escape sexist judgements,” she says, adding that like many of her female chess-playing friends, she too “dresses down” to escape unwanted attention from male players and the audience. Image source, Nandhini SaripalliImage caption, Nandhini Saripalli says she feels she was held back as a player because of her genderInterestingly, this is something Polgar – who is widely regarded to be among the best chess players in the world – says she experienced decades ago when she was a young chess player.Polgar responded to Ms Deshmukh’s post by sharing her own experience on X (formerly Twitter). “I did not even touch make-up until I was in my 20s… It is because I was tired of being sexually harassed/assaulted and hit on constantly by male chess players,” she wrote.Ms Ninan says that chess offers a “fertile space for predatory behaviour” because of its one-on-one setting and the fact that players are just a chess board away from their opponent.But Koneru Humpy, one of India’s top chess players who started her career in the 1990s when there were few women in chess, and stunned the world by becoming the then-youngest female Grandmaster at the age of 15 (this record was broken later), says that there is more equality now compared with when she began playing. Humpy recalls being the only female player to compete in open tournaments – she says these are much tougher to win than women’s-only tournaments because the players are more skilled on average. “Men wouldn’t like losing to me because I’m a woman,” she says and adds that today’s crop of male players are different as they regularly train and play against their female peers. But it will take more time for women players to wield the same amount of influence on and off the chess board as their male counterparts. One way to alter this power imbalance is to remove socio-cultural barriers that prevent women’s participation in chess at the entry level.”Once there are more female players, there will be more of them in the top levels of the sport,” says Humpy, adding that this will change prevailing perceptions.The other way to encourage more women to play chess is by increasing the number of women-only tournaments. “The more women play chess, the more claim they have over the sport,” she adds. Read more India stories from the BBC:Want to live together? Indian state says only if we agreeChinese ship’s port call fans India tensionsFake death of India actress sparks ethics debateOpposition challenge to Modi may be implodingComedian’s journey from jail to reality TV stardomRelated TopicsAsiaChessIndiaMore on this storyThe Indian siblings taking the chess world by stormPublished1 December 2023India chess prodigy’s ‘remarkable’ impact on the sportPublished25 August 2023Top StoriesLabour ditches £28bn green investment pledgePublished1 hour agoNetanyahu rejects Hamas’s proposed ceasefire termsPublished2 hours agoWilliam thanks public for messages of support for King and KatePublished4 minutes agoFeaturesWeather data casts doubt on government’s small boats claim’People will keep dying’: Fentanyl crisis grips Mexico’s border citiesWe don’t watch from the sidelines like Taylor SwiftWatch on iPlayer: I believed conspiracies about mass shooting I survived. 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