|
Home>News Center>Sports | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Van Persie facing 14 days in prison
Arsenal star Robin van Persie will be held in custody for a third night over rape allegations, prosecutors in Rotterdam said tonight.
Tomorrow they will apply to a judge for permission to hold him for another fortnight, a spokeswoman said.
The 21-year-old Dutch striker has been in custody since Monday after a woman alleged he launched a sex attack on her late on Saturday. "We are going to keep him in custody tonight and we are going to ask a judge tomorrow to keep him in custody for a further 14 days pending investigations," the spokeswoman said. If the judge does rule that Van Persie can be held for another 14 days, he could still be released during that time, the spokeswoman said. If he is still in custody at the end of the fortnight prosecutors could go to court again and ask to hold him for another three months. "Then we have to go to a public hearing," the spokeswoman said. Under Dutch law suspects are not charged with crimes in the same way as in the UK. "He is an official suspect. We do not charge," the spokeswoman said. She said the latest developments did not indicate that Van Persie would necessarily face a trial. But she added: "It is serious enough for us to go to this firststage. At this stage it means that we have a very strong suspicion that there is a case to be made, that's why we have to go to court tomorrow." 'The judge is checking at this stage if we have had enough of a case to make an arrest and if the allegations are serious enough to hold him for another 14 days.' Arsenal, which has been tight-lipped on the affair so far, was not commenting tonight. Dutch media reported that the alleged incident took place in a Rotterdam nightclub. Van Persie has hired high profile Dutch lawyer Abraham Moszkowicz who said his client was innocent. Mr Moszkowicz said yesterday: "I know the class of the young lady concerned - how, I can't tell you - and I put large question marks around the truth content of her story." If convicted, Van Persie could be jailed for as long as 12 years, although sentences are usually shorter than that. At the weekend Van Persie, who was born in Rotterdam, stressed his desire to stay at Arsenal long-term and to learn from fellow Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp. Van Persie scored for the Netherlands in a World Cup qualifying match against Finland last Wednesday. The player joined Arsenal last year from Feyenoord and began to force his way into the first team towards the end of last season, scoring twice in the FA Cup semi-final win over Blackburn. In October he crashed his BMW, leaving the car upside down at the scene without informing police. No one was injured and Van Persie was not charged with any offence. He was sent off for elbowing Manchester United's Kieran Richardson in December and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger later said Van Persie needed to "keep his nerves under control and not get overexcited".
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
