Five Cuban Volleyball Players Convicted of Rape in Finland
HAVANA TIMES — A Finnish court convicted five members of the Cuban men’s volleyball team on Tuesday for aggravated rape when they visited the Nordic country in July.
The court in the district of Pirkanmaa in Tampere sentenced four of these men to five years in prison, while the fifth received a sentence of three and a half years.
The five men, aged between 19 and 27 years old, also have to pay 24,000 euros (26,800 USD) in compensation to the woman who reported the complaint after the incident took place in a hotel in Tampere, to the north of the Finnish capital.
Hearings took place behind closed doors. The sixth player was absolved and released at the end of August.
The Cuban team had come to Finland to play in the World Volleyball League, as part of their preparation for the Olympic Games.
I agree with you khem that going to jail in Finland will present better educational opportunities and living standards than those generally available in Cuba.
No doubt the bathrooms in Finnish jails have toilet seats and toilet paper.
The State Treasury will pay the victim and try to collect the money from the players. They can’t come back to the EU if they don’t pay the money amount before. In practice this means that the Finnish taxpayers will pay for it. Unless the Cuban authorities will punish them, they’ll be just fine. Our prisons offer many activities and learning possibilities. They will be able to do their BA’s or master’s in 5 years for free with room and board and medical help, or just choose to go home in 2,5 years. Some do their PhD-s in prison. A day in prison (all inclusive paid by the tax payers) costs about 200 dollars per day. everyone has a private cell with a private shower and bathroom and, if they want, private meals too. The other prisoners don’t like rapists and pedophiles but these guys don’t have to see them.
The justice systems of the Scandinavian countries are generally respected as fair. That is probably the reason why Assange has preferred to hunker down in the Embassy of Equador in London for three years rather than exposing himself to trial.
By imposing fines of $26,800 upon the Cuban players however, the Finnish Court poses a quandary of where such monies can be found by Cubans and what happens when they are unable to pay?