Jegou-Auradou case: the prosecution recommends the return to France of the accused rugby players

Les deux joueurs sauront, mardi, s'ils peuvent rentrer en France. Montage

Le feu vert est suspendu à la décision d'une juge lors d'une audience prévue mardi, a annoncé, lundi 2 septembre, le parquet.

The Argentine prosecutor's office in Mendoza has recommended the return to France of the two rugby players accused of rape for nearly two months, a green light however suspended pending the decision of a judge at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, the prosecutor's office announced on Monday. The prosecutor's office “has authorized Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou to leave the country so that they can travel to France”, but their exit “concrete and effective” remains linked to a hearing on Tuesday, and the decision of a magistrate of detentions and liberties, Martin Ahumada, spokesperson for the provincial justice system, told the press.

The prosecutor “has authorized Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou to leave the country, but on a procedural level, we must wait for tomorrow's hearing to make it concrete” or not, added Mr. Ahumada. This hearing, scheduled for Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. at the Mendoza Judicial Center, must validate the results of psychological assessments, one of the last expected procedural acts.

A departure “with rules”

If there is an extension of the assessments, – which the plaintiff's lawyers are requesting – “we will see if they (the players) should be here or not. If there is no extension, the authorization to leave the country will be definitively granted,” he explained. The green light given by the prosecution for the players' departure is “accompanied by rules”, Mr. Ahumada specified. “For example, they must report if summoned to the Argentine consulate in France, must provide a real and virtual address, and must report to Mendoza (1,000km from Buenos Aires) if requested”.

Auradou and Jegou, two 21-year-old internationals, are 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 two players claim that the sexual relations with the complainant, a 39-year-old Argentinian, were consensual. And they deny any violence, while the plaintiff's lawyer spoke of “terrible violence”.

Defense requests prosecutors' recusal

Released three weeks ago, the two players recovered their passports and left Mendoza for Buenos Aires. On Friday, their lawyers had asked the courts to lift the ban on leaving the country. In a twist in the case on Monday, the plaintiff's lawyers filed a request for the disqualification of the prosecutors in charge of the investigation for, according to them, “mental violence and lack of objectivity”. A specific hearing should examine this request for disqualification on Monday, but it “does not affect the possible exit from the country” of the two players, stressed the spokesperson for the provincial justice system.