Five members of
Cuba's national volleyball team have been convicted of raping a Finnish woman
during a World League tournament in Tampere.
Four of the men,
including the captain, were given five-year jail sentences while a fifth is
facing a prison term of three and a half years.
They were detained
in the southern Finnish city on 2 July after a woman said she had been raped at
a hotel.
Eight men were
originally held. Two were released soon afterwards.
Another of the
players was released from detention at the end of August and acquitted by the
court in Tampere.
The men given the
longer sentences included 27-year-old captain Rolando Cepeda Abreu, Alfonso
Gavilan, 21, Ricardo Calvo Manzano, 19, and Osmany Uriarte Mestre, who is also
21. Luis Sosa Sierra, 21, was given a shorter sentence.
The team had been
taking part in a tournament ahead of the Rio Olympics when the rape took place
at the hotel in which the players were staying.
Lengthy ordeal
The court heard
that two of the players had met the woman in a nightclub in the hotel basement.
She later went to the room of one of the men, Uriarte Mestre, and consented to
sex.
However, Uriarte
Mestre was then said to have texted the other men without the woman's
knowledge. They entered the room and subjected the woman to a lengthy ordeal and
held her by the hair to prevent her leaving.
When she was
eventually allowed to leave, she complained to the hotel receptionist who
called police.
The men had denied
the accusation, insisting the woman had given consent.
However, the court
ruled they were guilty of aggravated rape and ordered the men to pay €24,000
(£20,500; $27,000) in compensation to the victim.
As the allegations
emerged, two of the team coaches were sacked.
Despite its
depleted squad, Cuba fielded a team in Rio and lost all five of its matches.
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