5 Cuban volleyball players jailed for rape in Finland

HELSINKI, Finland – Five members of Cuba‘s national volleyball team were jailed on Tuesday, September 20 in Finland for a rape that took place during a Volleyball World League event in July, a district court said.

Four players, including 27-year-old team captain Rolando Cepeda Abreu, Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan, 21, Ricardo Calvo Manzano, 19, and Osmany Uriarte Mestre, 21, were handed 5-year prison sentences for aggravated rape.

A fifth player, Luis Sosa Sierra, 21, received a shorter sentence of 3 years and 6 months, while a sixth teammate, Dariel Albo Miranda, 24, was acquitted of the same charge.

The Pirkanmaa district court said the Finnish woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was attacked on the night of July 2 in a hotel where the Cuban team was staying during the Volleyball World League championship in the southern town of Tampere.

Few details of the events were disclosed to the media and public, and the trial was held behind closed doors to protect the victim.

According to the charge sheet, the players “had together and in mutual understanding forced (the victim) to several acts of sexual intercourse by means of violence and by taking advantage of (her) fear and state of helplessness.”

The court said it had acquitted Dariel Albo Miranda, after the victim and his teammates confirmed his claim that he had not participated in the rape. 

The rest of the Cuban national team finished last in their group at the Olympic Games in Rio, with 5 straight defeats. – Rappler.com