Cuban volleyball players appeal sentence

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May 16, 2017 3:53 PM

The five were convicted in September by a court in the southern Finnish city of Tampere. They immediately appealed the case and deny the charges against them.

Cuban volleyball player Luis Sosa Sierra (front) was given a three-and-half year prison sentence after his 2016 trial in Tampere, Finland

A Finnish court of appeal on Tuesday examined the case of five

Volleyball captain Rolando Cepeda Abreu and his teammates Abrahan Alfonso Gavilan, Ricardo Calvo Manzano and Osmany Uriarte Mestre were sentenced to five years in prison, while Luis Sosa Sierra was sentenced to three and a half years.

The athletes were arrested one day after the incident at a hotel in Tampere in July last year when Cuba competed in the World Volleyball League.

The victim, a young woman whose identity was not revealed, had met some of the men at a nightclub inside their hotel.

She went into Uriarte Mestre's room before they had sex, but did not consent to him inviting Calvo Manzano into the room and then the other players, who she said raped her.

But Uriarte Mestre's lawyer, Kaarle Gummerus, reiterated that his client is innocent.

"The young woman always said her sexual relation with him was consensual. There is no reason why he should be convicted for rape," he told AFP.

As the appeals hearing began on Tuesday, the court in Turku examined evidence, including video surveillance, text messages exchanged between the men, and medical expertise.

The trial is expected to end on Monday, and the verdict is to be announced next month.

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