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Japan’s Masato Uchishiba. Photo: AFP

Judoka Uchishiba sentenced to 5 years in prison

Two-time Olympic judo champion Masato Uchishiba was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for raping a female member of a university judo club in 2011.

In handing down his ruling, judge Tomonao Onizawa said the court “cannot trust at all” claims by Uchishiba that he had consensual sex with the student, Kyodo news agency reported.

Uchishiba, 34, who gold in the 66-kilogram class at the Athens and Beijing Olympics, is expected to appeal.

The judge said the woman’s accusation of sexual assault while she was asleep was credible given that she could not stand up on her own after drinking too much alcohol at a restaurant before the incident. Prosecutors accused Uchishiba of intoxicating the student in order to take advantage of her inability to resist.

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