It was a potential turning point in the case. In the case of the rape complaint in Argentina against the two French rugby players Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, the plaintiff’s lawyers had filed a request to disqualify the two prosecutors in charge of the investigation on the grounds of “mental violence” and “lack of objectivity”. The request was rejected, according to Infobae and AFP.
“The alleged loss of objectivity of the magistrates involved has not been proven. (…) This is due to the fact that it is easy to see that the decisions taken by the respective prosecutors in the ongoing proceedings have been translated into acts indissolubly linked to their sphere of action,” the Mendoza Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Monday, September 2. The plaintiff’s lawyers are not expected to appeal the decision, according to local media.
For the French lawyer of the two players of the XV of France, Antoine Vey, the request for recusal was “yet another delaying tactic, (which) does not change in any way the phase of the case”, nor “the substantive elements”. “We are still waiting for the return of the players to France in the next few hours”, he added.
Towards a return to France
Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou are getting closer to returning to France. The prosecution has recommended that they be allowed to leave the country, a green light that must still be validated by a magistrate of detentions and liberties during a hearing scheduled for Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. (Paris time).
This hearing must validate the results of psychological assessments, the last expected investigative acts. If there is an extension of the assessments, which the plaintiff’s lawyers are requesting, the judge will have to decide on the need to keep the two players in Argentina. If there is no extension, “authorization to leave the country will be definitively granted,” said Martin Ahumada, spokesperson for the provincial justice system. The players could then return to France on the first direct flight and potentially be there as early as Wednesday morning.
No date for review of the request for dismissal
The two 21-year-old internationals remain charged with aggravated rape because they were in a group. The alleged events allegedly occurred on the night of July 6 to 7 in a hotel room in Mendoza, where the French XV had just won a test match against Argentina. The players claim that the sexual relations with the complainant, a 39-year-old Argentinian whom they met in a nightclub, were consensual. And they deny any violence, while the complainant’s lawyer spoke of “terrible violence.”
The last few weeks have marked a significant shift in the case. The players, who spent around ten days in detention in early July and were then placed under house arrest, were released on 12 August by the prosecution. The prosecution had then highlighted “notorious contradictions, inconsistencies, grey areas” in the plaintiff’s version. The players, who have since recovered their passports, left Mendoza for Buenos Aires on Tuesday 27 August. The same day, their lawyers filed a formal request for dismissal of the case. No date has yet been set for an examination of this request, but it could take place within a few days.
- RMC Sport
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