Defense of accused French rugby players: “The sex was consensual”

Rafael Cúneo Libarona, defense lawyer for Oscar Jegou (21) and Hugo Auradou (20), said “they are healthy men” and he trusts “in their innocence.”

Rafael Cúneo Libarona, defense lawyer for French national team rugby players Oscar Jegou, 21, and Hugo Araudou, 20, He said on Thursday that the sex with the complainant was “consensual”. and it is expected that this Friday their rights will be read and He will request house arrest for the incident that occurred in Mendoza.

The brother of Mariano Cúneo Libarona, Minister of Justice, is the lawyer in charge of the defense of two players of the French rugby team who were arrested after being accused of alleged sexual abuse that took place at the Diplomatic Hotel in Mendoza. The athletes will be transferred this Thursday from Buenos Aires, where they are detained, to the province of Mendoza, where this Friday at 9:00 they will be notified because of the alleged rape of a woman in that province in the west of the country last weekend.

Cúneo Libarona said: “You have to see what the evidence is. If there are marks, what kind of marks and depth. I believe in French rugby players. Yesterday I was interviewed by them for over an hour. They were 20-year-old men who had come to play rugby. They are professional and very healthy. They don’t have to hit. They don’t shoot. “That’s not the program.”

“Rugby players in recent years in Argentina have been stigmatized. Just because some kids get hit at Villa Gessell doesn’t mean all rugby players are hitters. Let’s look at the file. We will take into account the statement of the lawyer, the family and the girl, which we respect. On the other hand, I have a professional mandate that I follow to the letter. “I trust in his innocence,” he emphasized.

The reported events took place at the luxury hotel in Mendoza on Sunday, after a friendly against Pumas at the Malvinas Argentinas Stadium in Mendoza, when several team members went out for the night as part of their rest. Days later, they were arrested on Monday in Buenos Aires, where the French team stopped before continuing their preparatory tour in Uruguay.

Cúneo Libarona’s version of the case of sexual abuse by French rugby players in Mendoza

Cúneo Libarona said this Thursday to the media that met with the Public Prosecutor’s Office that the sex was consensual: “We start from the beginning, the rugby game is over, the players go to the third period. They meet in a bowling alley, they start drinking, they dance, they sympathize and, according to the victim, He refused to go to the bowling alley bathroom three times with Araudou, but after a few minutes he went to the hotel. Here it is consensual because he never says that he was forcibly transferred. The French player forgot the key, he went downstairs and remained waiting outside the room.”

Half an hour later Jegou arrived because the players were sharing the room, and “That’s where the full court case begins, what happened there”featured the lawyer, and indicated that the player was “he’s asleep” and highlighted, again as in several instances, that the woman is 20 years older than the players and “I’m not yelling” to ask for help.