Their lawyers are confident of a ‘swift’ release

The Argentine lawyer of the French rugby player accused of rape in Argentina said on Thursday that after the hearing he was “confident” that they would “quickly regain their freedom” and made a request to that effect. “We feel free and we are sure that they will regain their freedom soon”, Mr. Rafael Cuneo Libarona announced to the press after more than five hours of testimony by Hugo Auradou, then Oscar Jegou, at the Mendoza (West) Judicial Center.

The statements, made by Dario Nora, a prosecutor in the sex crimes unit, in the presence of lawyers for both parties, were the first they had made in their case since they were arrested and charged on July 8.

The complainant has heard

Auradou and Jegou are both 21 years old. The accused was charged with aggravated rape because during a meeting on the night of July 6-7, a 39-year-old ArgentineIn a hotel in Mendoza, a thousand kilometers away from Buenos Aires, the French team XV had just played a test match with Argentina.

The complainant, who has been interviewed, said she went with one of the players, met them in a hotel room at a nightclub, and then suffered rape and violence from two of the players before returning later. His lawyers cited “strong” evidence, In particular, the lesions observed.

The defense lawyer stated from the outset that “Confident” in players’ innocencethey admitted to having a sexual relationship with the complainant but confirmed that it was consensual and denied any violence.

Decision to be made on Monday

Mr Cuneo Libarona said he filed a request on Thursday for the release of the two Frenchmen, who have been under house arrest in preventive detention since July 17, after spending about ten days at the detention centre. He said the judge had to rule by Monday.

He said Thursday that he was “very happy” with the day of the hearing. “Hugo answered more than 150 questions from the prosecution, the defense and the plaintiff’s lawyers, while Oscar had to answer 50 or 60 questions from everyone.”

He clarified that for lawyers, release means the player’s “return to France.” Freedom “is a global concept, not a restriction,” even if it “does not prevent prosecution.” The process (investigation) is still ongoing,” but “will probably be completed in two months,” he said.

For plaintiffs’ lawyer Natasha Romano, the “logical and coherent” plan is for the players to continue to be charged, and do so in Argentina.