The October 18 hearing intended to study the request for dismissal filed by the players’ defense is maintained, despite the efforts of the plaintiff’s lawyers to suspend it.
The medical expertise of the woman who accuses French rugby players Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou of rape has been rejected by the Argentine courts. The hearing scheduled for October 18 to study the request for dismissal filed by the players’ defense is therefore maintained.
The players’ defense justified the bruises found on the body of the alleged victim by the fact that she suffered from a bleeding disorder, which the young woman’s lawyers denied. According to the complainant, these traces would in fact be the result of violence inflicted by the players.
Also readJégou-Auradou affair: “They must be sanctioned”, advocates Didier Codorniou, candidate for president of the FFR
Her lawyers notably provided the prosecution with the expertise of an independent hematologist confirming that she “did not suffer from the disease” and requested a suspension of the October 18 hearing.
Interviewed at length by the prosecutor on August 6, the complainant herself admitted to suffering from “Von Willebrand disease”. A hematologist who testified on September 19 before the prosecution confirmed that this pathology was recorded in her medical file.
Medical expertise deemed useless
But the Mendoza public prosecutor’s office told them that this statement from the hematologist was not “not useful” and did not change the course of the case, according to the file obtained on Saturday by AFP. He therefore refused the request to suspend the hearing.
On October 4, the Mendoza public prosecutor’s office ruled for a dismissal of the case – that is, the dismissal of the case before the trial – following a request to the same effect made earlier by the defense.
Also readTop 14: “Hugo Auradou is totally serene and determined,” assures the Pau manager
Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, both aged 21, are charged with aggravated rape committed in a meeting for alleged acts that occurred on the night of July 6 to 7 in a hotel room in Mendoza, where the XV of France was coming to play a test match against Argentina.
“Terrible violence”
The two players have maintained from the beginning that the sexual relations with the complainant, met in a nightclub, were consensual. And they deny any violence, while the plaintiff’s lawyer mentioned “terrible violence” with regard to his client, “savagely beaten”.
First detained then placed under house arrest, they were released in mid-August, then authorized to leave Argentina pending the end of the investigation. They returned to France on September 4, and have since resumed training in their clubs. Hugo Auradou played again in the Top 14 on October 5 with Pau.
