Finnish court authorizes continued detention of rape suspects
Xinhua, July 6, 2016 Adjust font size:
A court in Tampere, central southern Finland, on Tuesday authorized a continuation of detention of six Cubans suspected of aggravated rape.
Two of the original eight detainees had been released by the police earlier and were no longer suspects. The suspects were players in the national volleyball team of Cuba attending the world volleyball league tournament in Tampere.
The detainees, aged 19-27 years, denied the charges in a closed-door hearing.
Finnish media did not publish names of suspects, though the Cuban Volleyball Federation on Tuesday did.
The Federation condemned their behavior but stated that the involvement of each player in the alleged crime was not known yet, newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported.
The Cuban federation said the alleged deeds are totally alien to the "discipline, honor and respect" that has prevailed in Cuban sports since 1959.
Police said on Tuesday the victim was an adult woman. The alleged incident had taken place in the Tampere Ilves hotel. No more details were immediately known.
The police has until the end of August to raise charges. The detention will be reviewed in two weeks time. Endit