Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash

A Tunisian immigrant who is on the run has been convicted in absentia for drugging and attempting to rape a German tourist in Italy before she fell from a cliff and suffered serious head injuries.

The Court Panel of the Italian coastal city of Imperia in the region of Liguria consisting of judges Laura Russo, Antonio Romano and Francesca Minier sentenced defendant Zied Yakoubi, 33, to five years one month and 10 days of imprisonment.

Italian media reported that the court will probably issue an arrest warrant against Yakoubi since he has allegedly left Italy and is still untraceable.

Yakoubi’s was charged for attempted rape, grievous bodily harm and selling drugs after Alena Sudokova, 24, a German woman of Russian descent who was a law student at the University of Marburg, fell from a 70-metre high cliff between the municipalities of Sanremo and Ospedaletti in northern Italy on the last day of her holiday on 31st July 2018.

According to the indictment, the Tunisian man who was illegally living in Italy drugged Alena by giving her a cocktail laced with cocaine in a local bar with the intention of sedating and then raping her.

Yakoubi then drove the woman to the Capo Nero area where Sudokova resisted him and argued with him but then fell from a cliff while trying to run away.

She suffered serious hip, leg and feet injuries and fell into a coma which resulted in severe cerebral damage, which she has not fully recovered from to this day.

In addition, a lifeguard who found her two hours after the fall told local media that her long hair was cut off despite Yakoubi’s statements that he tried to save her after the police found him injured and hiding in the cliffs of Capo Nero.

Yakoubi was arrested for a short period of time, before was released due to a lack of evidence.

According to Alena’s family it is uncertain whether she will be able to lead a ‘normal’ life again as she is still psychologically and physically traumatised.

Public Prosecutor Barbara Bresci had initially demanded 8 years of imprisonment, however, Yakoubi was sentenced in absentia to five years one month and 10 days on 4th May.

His defence lawyer Mario Ventimiglia announced that he will appeal against the court’s decision.