The Argentine courts rejected the request for recusal of the magistrate in charge of the case by the plaintiff's lawyer. The hearing to examine the dismissal of the two French players will be held on Monday.
The Argentine courts confirmed on Friday the judge in charge of the case of the two French rugby players charged with rape, a magistrate who was the subject of a request for recusal, confirming the hearing to examine the dismissal of the players on Monday .
The defense of the complainant, a 39-year-old Argentinian, had during the week filed a request to recusal Judge Eleonora Arenas, questioning her capacity for impartiality, with a view to the upcoming hearing.
The request “was rejected” lawyer Natacha Romano told journalists at the end of a specific hearing at the judicial center of Mendoza (west), without making any other statement. A spokesperson for the Mendoza justice system confirmed the decision.
The complainant multiplies the delaying appeals
The appeal was not Me Romano's first against magistrates in the case: in September, she had requested the disqualification of the two prosecutors co-in charge of the investigation, accusing them of “judging instead of investigating”.
The public prosecutor had rejected the request, considering that the supposed “lack of objectivity” had not been demonstrated. A possible challenge to Judge Arenas would have meant a major halt to the procedure, before the appointment of a new magistrate.
“We expect a very good result on Monday, so that the players can live in peace”
Rafael Cuneo Libarona, Argentinian lawyer for the players
After numerous postponements, procedural appeals, almost five months after the facts, the hearing to examine the dismissal of the case, that is to say the possible abandonment of the proceedings against Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, will therefore be held Monday from 9:00 a.m. (1 p.m. in France).
At the end of the closed-door hearing, after hearing from the prosecution, the plaintiff's lawyers and the players, the judge will be able to make a decision straight away, or put it under advisement within a few days.
“We expect a very good result on Monday, so that the players can live in peace”Rafael Cuneo Libarona, the players' Argentinian lawyer, told AFP.
Auradou and Jegou, 21 years old, remain charged with aggravated rape because they were in a meeting. Alleged events that occurred on the night of July 6 to 7 in their hotel in Mendoza, where the French XV had just played a match against Argentina. They have maintained from the beginning that the sexual relations with the complainant, met in a nightclub, were consensual and without violence.
The initial accusation lost its force as the investigation progressed.
The complainant's lawyer, on the contrary, denounced a rape with «violence terrible». The parties presented radically opposed versions, with the only convergences being the reality of sexual acts and an alcoholic context.
The players' lawyers filed a request for dismissal at the end of August, then the prosecution in turn indicated in October that it would support the dismissal. Authorizing, a month earlier, the return of the players to France, he estimated that “the initial accusation had lost its force” throughout the instruction.
The two players returned to competitive rugby in France, Auradou in October, Jegou in November.
