Jinan Disho stands trial for rapes, assaults in County Court

A Geelong man accused of brutally raping and assaulting a woman allegedly told her he would “get what he wanted”, a court has heard.

Jinan Disho leaving court on Wednesday. Picture: Mark Wilson

A Geelong man accused of brutally raping and assaulting a woman allegedly told her he would “get what he wanted”, a court has heard.

Jinan Disho, 42, is on trial in the County Court at Geelong on seven charges – three counts of rape, three counts of assault and one charge of making a threat to kill during a series of alleged incidents in late 2018.

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

During the trial’s opening arguments on Wednesday, crown prosecutor Yildana Hardjadibrata told the jury Mr Disho raped and assaulted a woman on multiple occasions, and threatened to kill her and others with a kitchen knife on another.

Mr Hardjadibrata told the court that in one incident, Mr Disho punched the woman in the side of the head, knocking her unconscious.

On another occasion, Mr Disho is alleged to have raped the woman after watching a pornographic movie and demanding she “do things the girls do in the movie … or be prepared for the consequences”.

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

The prosecution allege that Mr Disho told the woman he would “get what he wanted – with her permission or without her permission” before he went on with the alleged rape.

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

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

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

In 2018, Mr Disho arrived in Australia as a refugee and was settled in Geelong.

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

Mr Barreiro asked the jury if, having just arrived in Australia, Mr Disho would “put it all on the line and commit these offences?”

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

Mr Barreiro told the jury that it was “not a case of consent” given Mr Disho denies any sexual intercourse or physical violence occurred during the alleged incidents.

Mr Barreiro said the “chronology” of the case stood out, how “dated” the allegations were, and said he would ask the jury to think about some elements of the case “really carefully” – including why the complainant made the allegations.

“I want to emphasise that you should pay close attention in this trial to the manner in which it was investigated, and the efforts made by police,” Mr Barreiro told the jury.

“Is the quality of the evidence what you’d expect to prove these grave allegations?”

The trial continues before judge George Georgiou.

Originally published as Jinan Disho stands trial for rapes, assaults in County Court