BUENOS AIRES.- Justice argentina ordered on Wednesday that the players of the French rugby team Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou, detained in a judicial dependency of the province of Mendoza accused of the rape of a woman, continue the process under house arrest.
The measure was ordered by prosecutor Cecilia Bignert of the Prosecution Unit for Crimes Against Sexual Integrity in Mendoza — about 1,000 kilometers west of Buenos Aires — in response to a request from the defense of the two French citizens.
“Considering the level of evidence reached and the absence of procedural risk, it is feasible to grant house arrest with personal bail for each of them,” the provincial Public Prosecutor’s Office reported in a statement. It added that “both will have movement bracelets.”
Jegou, 21, and Auradou, 20, are accused of the crime of sexual abuse with carnal access aggravated by the participation of two people against a woman in a hotel in Mendoza, the provincial capital, in the early hours of Sunday, July 7, after both Le Bleus players played a match against Los Pumas of Argentina.
The defendants left the Mendoza Judicial Center, where they were detained, on Wednesday and were transferred to a private address in the province that was not revealed by the judicial authorities.
“The corresponding environmental survey has been carried out, both of the place and of the person who will exercise the role of caregiver of the aforementioned foreign citizens,” detailed the statement from the provincial Public Prosecutor’s Office.
What is known so far?
The complainant, who is of legal age, met the two French players in a nightclub the night after the match and the attack allegedly occurred early Sunday morning in a room at the Diplomatic Hotel in the capital of Mendoza. The woman decided to file the complaint that same day and agreed to undergo physical examinations.
According to a statement released by the French Rugby Federation (FFR) last week, the players admitted having had sexual relations with her, “but firmly denied any form of violence.”
The crime they allegedly committed carries a minimum sentence of eight years in prison and a maximum of 20. The accused can testify at another point in the judicial process.
Source: AP
