The police in Gospic said yesterday they had arrested a 57-year-old man on suspicion that he had raped a 28-year-old American basketball player playing for the women's Gospic-Industrogradnja Basketball Club.
The man, identified as J. M., is suspected of raping the American woman, identified as I.K.M.J., two days ago at Gospic's Ante Hotel where the victim was living.
Commenting on media claims that the club failed to provide sufficient protection to its player, the club's president and manager, Niko Brkljacic and Milan Kolic respectively, said the club had given its player all the protection that she had requested and that she had been relocated to another hotel with another player, also a US citizen, as well as that she had been offered a consensual termination of her contract.
The basketball player, who attended the news conference, thanked the club's management for the protection she had requested and the termination of her contract.
The man suspected of attempted rape today addressed the public, dismissing accusations and claiming that he had been framed.