The four members of the Polish death metal band DECAPITATED have issued a statement in response to their having been formally charged with rape in Spokane County, Washington. The four had already been charged with kidnapping in the first degree.
The group says: “We’d like to emphasize; the Spokane Police Department has pressed charges as procedural formality, without doing so, they would be forced to release band. This is not a conviction or any indication of guilt or innocence.
“Once again, we ask that everyone wait for each party’s case to be presented and await the court’s decision. With that said, whilst cases are being prepared on both sides, some facts are indisputable at this point — that the original officer who took the complaint from the accuser stated, ‘I do not have probable cause that a rape occurred,’ and it’s taken a full thirty days to file charges, which is right up against the point at which the defendants would legally have had to be released.
“The band firmly refutes the allegations and are confident that once the facts and evidence have been seen and heard, they will be released and able to return home.
“Individuals who were present on the night in question with information about the case are asked to reach out to the defense lawyer, Steve Graham of Spokane, Washington.”
All four members of DECAPITATED were held at a Los Angeles jail and were recently extradited to Spokane and charged with kidnapping in the first-degree, with the Spokesman-Review reporting that Michal Lysejko, Waclaw Kietlyka, Rafal Piotrowski and Hubert Wiecek have been formally charged with rape.
