Ghanaian footballer Kwame Bonsu appeals marital rape conviction with new lawyer and evidence

The Court of Appeal in Gavle, Sweden has set July 10 as the date for Ghanaian midfielder Kwame Bonsu's challenge of his marital rape and assault conviction.

Bonsu, 22, was handed a two-year jail term on last Friday (June 9) after he was convicted of marital rape and abuse of his ex-wife Marie Magnusson by the Gavle District Court.

The incident which took place in 2015 cost the former Hearts of Lions player his professional contract with Swedish club Gefle IF. If his appeal is unsuccessful it will earn him a two-year stint in jail, a $14,000 fine as well as deportation from the Scandinavian country upon completion of his custodial sentence.

According to Goal.com, the former Hearts of Lions star has hired a new lawyer and will be armed with new video evidence when he appears before the Criminal Cases Review Commission of the Swedish Court of Appeal.

“There is no way my brother is guilty in this case. I know that Maria framed up every bit of the story to destroy Kwame Bonsu's name and career because my brother decided to divorce her after a misunderstanding,” Bonsu's elder sister Nana Yaw Boatemaa told Goal.com.

“When the story was announced in the media, my mother nearly lost her life through shock,” she said.

“Everyone who knows Bonsu is aware that he can't even hurt a fly, let alone a human whom he spent some time with in the past. Maria wanted to save her marriage but after my brother insisted that he cannot marry her anymore, she then framed him up to bring him down.

“I know a lot of Ghanaians have heard the sad news of my brother so we are calling on high ranking Ghanaians like the president, youth and sports minister as well as the football association to help in one way or the other,” she added.

Bonsu joined Swedish club FC Rosengard on loan from Heart of Lions in 2013 before he was signed permanently by second-tier side Mjallby in 2014.