Daily Times

HELSINKI: Six members of Cuba’s national volleyball team were remanded in custody in Finland on Friday while investigations continue over a suspected rape. A district court ordered the six held for “probable cause” over the allegations, and investigators now have until August 26 to present their case to the prosecutor. Team captain Rolando Cepeda Abreu, 27, as well as players Dariel Albo Miranda, 24, Abrahan Alfonso Gavilán, 21, Ricardo Calvo Manzano, 19, Luis Sosa Sierra, 21, and Osmany Uriarte Mestre, 21, will remain in custody while police investigate the claims, according to court documents. The players are accused over the alleged rape at the weekend of a Finnish woman at a hotel in the southern town of Tampere where the Cuban team was staying during Volleyball World League games. All six players, who local media said pleaded not guilty at a closed-door hearing, are likely to miss the Rio Olympics which open on August 5. Albo Miranda’s lawyer Pirkka Lappalainen told reporters his client had pleaded not guilty and took the court decision to keep him in custody “hard”. Luis Tomas Sosa Sierra’s lawyer Marko Virta said he believed his client would be freed as soon as DNA test results on the players were available. “He might miss the Games but he will be released at some point, I am very sure about that,” he told reporters. Finnish police have not revealed any details about the alleged rape, to protect the victim and the investigation. Cuba’s national volleyball federation said that it would take unspecified “measures” against the players.