A spokesperson for the provincial justice of Mendoza, Argentina, confirmed on Thursday that the dismissal examination for the two French internationals would not take place this Friday.
The examination of the abandonment of the proceedings against French rugby players Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, charged with rape in Argentina in July, scheduled for Friday, has been postponed without a date, theAFP Thursday from judicial sources.
A spokesperson for the provincial justice of Mendoza confirmed toAFP that there would be no dismissal hearing on Friday, and that “first the appeal must be resolved” presented last week, during the procedure, by the plaintiff’s lawyers. “Then there will be a hearing”indicated the spokesperson, without however giving a deadline for the examination of the appeal. He recalled that the two players, although charged, are at large, which de facto removes any urgency from the procedure.
The postponement – the third in less than a month – follows an appeal presented by the plaintiff’s lawyers, requesting the incorporation of new elements – medical in this case – into the file, and in particular that new expert statements. An appeals chamber must now rule on these points, a judicial source said.
Rafael Cuneo Libarona, Argentinian lawyer for the players, denounced to theAFP a maneuver “absurd” et “dilatory” of the plaintiff’s defense. He did not wish to give an approximate date for the dismissal examination but assured “that it will take place, sooner or later”.
Third postponement in less than a month
Natacha Romano, lead lawyer for the plaintiff, did not respond to requests from theAFP. The other lawyer, Mauricio Cardello, dissociated himself from the procedure a few days ago in a brief press release, without giving a reason to the media, including AFP, which contacted him.
The documents produced in the appeal relate to Von Willebrand disease, a hematological pathology which can promote the appearance of bruising. Revealed by the plaintiff herself, this pathology was invoked by the players’ defense to explain “light” injuries on her. Me Romano maintains on the contrary that the lesions “have nothing to do” with the illness, and are proof that her client “did not give consent”.
Auradou and Jegou, 21, have been charged for almost four months with aggravated gang rape, allegedly occurring on the night of July 6 to 7 in a hotel in Mendoza, where the French XV had just played a match against Argentina. They have maintained from the beginning that the sexual relations with the complainant, a 39-year-old Argentinian they met in a nightclub, were consensual and without violence. His lawyer, on the contrary, denounced a rape with «violence terrible».
First placed in pre-trial detention then placed under house arrest in Mendoza, the players were released in mid-August, then authorized to return to France at the beginning of September. They have since resumed club rugby: competing for Auradou with Pau, training for Jegou with La Rochelle.
