![Auradou-Jegou
case:
“An
attempt
at
manipulation”
denounced
after
the
publication
of
photos
of
the
complainant](https://euro.dayfr.com/temp/resized/medium_2024-08-28-c9862d7414.jpg)
Yet another media spat in the Hugo Auradou – Oscar Jegou affair. On Tuesday evening, less than two hours after the arrival of the two French rugby players in Buenos Aires from Mendoza, the daily Diario Uno, quickly imitated by the Argentinian media, published a series of photos of the 39-year-old woman accusing them of aggravated gang rape.
Photos dated July 7 and taken at the time the alleged victim filed the complaint, showing fifteen lesions, including “a purplish bruise measuring 4 cm x 1 cm on the lower left eyelid” or two bruises measuring “2 cm x 1 cm and 1 cm x 1 cm” on the lower chin, according to the conclusions of the forensic report already revealed on July 20.
This leak prompted Antoine Vey, the lawyer for the French, to react on Wednesday to deplore an “instrumentalization of the media”. “The photos are not compatible with the scenes described by the complainant, who claimed to have been hit several times, strangled and pulled to the ground”, indicates the counsel. The latter also underlines that the complainant suffers from “Von Willebrand’s disease” (at grade 1, the mildest, according to our information) preventing the blood from “clotting properly”.
The complainant “morally destroyed”
He also states that the expert who produced the forensic report “rejected the possibility that these marks could have been caused by blows, because they are in reality too light and could have many causes, such as cosmetic treatment, dental treatment or hitting yourself with a ledge.”
According to the defense, “this disclosure, which comes from the plaintiff’s lawyer, is yet another attempt to manipulate public opinion and justice.” Contacted, Natacha Romano, who represents the alleged victim, did not respond to our requests. On Monday, she revealed that her client had attempted suicide three days earlier. This is why she did not attend the final medical examinations to be carried out as part of the psychological and psychiatric assessments to be included in the file.
“She is morally destroyed,” said her other lawyer, Mauricio Cardello, on Tuesday, when the plaintiff again failed to attend the tests that had been postponed that day. They were rescheduled for this Friday.
The request for dismissal to be examined by September 10
Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou left Mendoza, where they were under house arrest from July 17 to August 12 before being released on conditions, to fly to Buenos Aires on Tuesday evening. Still under investigation for acts that allegedly took place in the city in central-western Argentina on the night of July 6 to 7, they have recovered their passports but remain prohibited from leaving the South American country and from having contact with the alleged victim during the investigation.
On Tuesday morning, their lawyers filed a request for dismissal of the case with the Mendoza public prosecutor. This will be examined “within a (extendable) period of ten working days” by the courts, the prosecution said. That is, by September 10.
The two rugby players, aged 21, maintain their innocence, acknowledging a consensual sexual relationship with the complainant but denying any form of violence.