The National Court Confirms The Rape Sentence Against A Footballer

The national court confirmed today the two-and-a-half-year sentence for football player Andres Escobar, reports RÚV.

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He played with Leiknir in the Icelandic premier division and has been in detention because of the case.

The National Court says in its judgment that Escobar took advantage of the woman’s drunkenness so that she could not stop the act. The court condemned the attack as a brutal breach of her legally enshrined sexual freedom, and rejected his claims that the victim’s footwear affected her walk rather than her state of intoxication.

In an interview for a Colombian television station Escobar, originally from Colombia, said: “I have been unfairly treated. I am innocent of the charge and want to ask for help, whether that’s from the authorities or some specialists.”

The National Court found the woman’s statement credible but said that Escobar’s statement, on the other hand, was not entirely consistent, such as about the woman’s condition when they met, her condition in the centre of Reykjavík and then at his home. The court noted the fact that the use of an interpreter from Spanish to Icelandic could have affected the consistency of his testimony.

Escobar’s case attracted some attention in Colombia, where online media have recounted his career, which seems to have been rather flamboyant. For a while, he was among Colombia’s most promising players and played, among other things, with superstar James Rodriguez in the country’s junior national teams.