French rugby players accused of rape in Mendoza freed: how the case continues

Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jégou were detained after a complaint from a woman they met at a bowling alley. They cannot leave the country, among other legal issues.

The Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes against Sexual Integrity by Mendoza Hugo Auradou (21 years old) and Oscar Jégou (21), the French rugby players accused of raping a woman, were released that they met at a famous bowling alley, in the early hours of July 7, after a friendly against Los Pumas at the Malvinas Argentinas Stadium.

Auradou and Jégou remained behind bars for the crime of “sexual abuse with carnal access aggravated by the participation of two people“, in a room at the Diplomatic hotel in the province. The maximum penalty they face is 20 years in prison.

Although they were given freedom, the athletes They will continue to be prosecuted, they will not be able to leave Argentina (their passports were taken) and they will have to report to Justice every certain number of days.

“The criminal criteria for requesting preventive detention are not met. The first version weakened with noticeable contradictions, gray areas and the reason for agreeing to go to the hotel, the behavior observed when leaving the hotel, the tone of joking in the conversation to his friend.“said part of the opinion.

Deputy prosecutor Gonzalo Nazar signed the document and clarified that, although the initial detention was justified by the risk of flight, the current proposal responds to a thorough analysis of the case.

The complainant, 39 years old, said that Jégou He invites her for a drink, she is dizzy and asks him to accompany her to the venue, where he will be joining. Auradou. “We hope to determine that there is never consent from the victim. The 15 injuries he had on his body show the violence of the act.” said Natacha Romano, the woman’s lawyer.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, experts determined that the presence of bruises on the complainant’s body was due to his having Von Willebrand disease, a bleeding disorder caused by low levels of coagulation proteins in the blood.

The french rugby players They were detained the next day, Monday, July 8, at the Emperador Hotel in Buenos Aires, where France was stopping before continuing a preparatory tour of Uruguay, and were then transferred to Mendoza.

There, those defended by lawyer Rafael Cúneo Libarona, brother of the Minister of Justice, Mariano Cúneo Libarona, accessed the benefit of house arrestmonitored with an electronic anklet, in a house in the Fifth Section of the capital.

But since there was no formal request for preventive detention, the Public Prosecutor’s Office was forced to advance the request to the defense. The case, for its part, will continue its course in other expertise.

In Argentina, the Line 144 provides phone support at women victims of gender violence 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is anonymous, free and national.