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Leading South African cricketer to be charged with rape
AFP
13 January 1999
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 13 (AFP) - A warrant of arrest is to be issued this
week for a leading South African cricketer wanted for allegedly raping
a 21-year-old student at a cricket ground in November, police said
Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, senior prosecutor Les Roberts announced his
intention to prosecute the cricketer, who has not been named but who,
according to press reports, has played for the South African national
team on a number of occasions.
Roberts said the cricketer is expected to appear in court in the
Eastern Cape town of East London in the next few days, according to
public SABC radio.
Roberts declined to give further details, but it was earlier reported
that the rape allegedly occurred after the cricketer gave a woman a
lift from a nightclub last year.
United Cricket Board of South Africa managing director Ali Bacher told
AFP in December, when the story first broke, that the cricketer was
facing charges, he believed the player had been framed.
``I am absolutely certain he is innocent, for reasons that I do not
want to go into,'' Bacher said.
Press reports at the time said the cricketer had reacted with
bemusement when told of the charges.
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