Swedish police detain Liberia's Johnson
Reuters - Thursday 14 October 2010, 10:47
STOCKHOLM, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Swedish police have detained
AIK's Liberian football international Dulee Johnson following
allegations of rape, a prosecutor said on Thursday.
"With regard to the identity, that will come out in court
but, yes, it is Dulee Johnson, but other than that I don't have
a lot to say at the moment," Stockholm prosecutor Henrik
Soderman told Reuters following local media reports a player had
been detained before training on Tuesday.
Asked whether the allegation due to which Johnson had been
detained was rape, Soderman said, "Yes."
The website of Aftonbladet newspaper quoted Johnson's lawyer Michael Linden as saying the player
denied the charges.
"My client rejects the allegations that have been made
against him," Linden said, adding that he expected the case to
be dropped.
Swedish champions AIK said on Wednesday they had suspended
midfielder Johnson.
"We will come back when there is something more to say in
the matter," said a statement on the club website.
Johnson, who has played in five World Cup qualifiers for
Liberia, made his debut for AIK in 2006 and returned to the
Stockholm club last year after a spell at Maccabi Tel Aviv in
Israel.
He has played 20 times this season, scoring two goals as AIK
have struggled to repeat the form that took them to a league and
cup double last year.