- KASSEL (Sapa-AFP) -- The
trial of a German cannibal - jailed for manslaughter on Friday after killing
and eating an apparently willing victim - has given a chilling insight
into a secret world of extreme fetishism.
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- Armin Meiwes was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years
in jail for fulfilling his dream of cannibalism and what the judges agreed
was his victim's wish for "the ultimate kick".
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- But without the Internet, it might never have got so
far.
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- "The deed would not have happened like that without
the Internet," Meiwes' lawyer, Harald Ermel, said afterwards. "It
would have stayed in the realms of fantasy."
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- 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."
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- Meiwes met Bernd Juergen Brandes after advertising on
a cannibal website under the pseudonym Franky for someone ready to be killed
and eaten. Brandes coincidentally advertised as a willing sacrifice.
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- Their two fantasies - Meiwes of cannibalism, Brandes
of extreme masochism followed by death - became gruesome reality in Meiwes'
idyllic hometown of Rotenburg.
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- 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' 16 computers and about 2 000 disks were stunned
at the scale of the cannibal scene. He said there were thousands like him.
"You can be sure many have not just remained in the realm of fantasy."
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- Meiwes was in contact with more than 200 people. Most
wanted to be victims, others to be tortured, a detective testified.
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- Meanwhile the site Meiwes advertised is going strong.
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- "Seeking young female flesh to torture and later
to eat," a certain Freddy wrote recently.
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- "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.
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