MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

French rugby players released but unable to leave Argentina

Deputy Prosecutor Gonzalo Nazar signed the documents acquiescing to the athletes' release

French international rugby players Oscar Jégou and Hugo Auradou, both aged 21, were released from their house arrest in the Argentine city of Mendoza Monday but will remain unable to leave the country pending the outcome of the rape trial against them after a complaint was filed by a local 39-year-old woman for things that allegedly happened in a downtown hotel after a match between La Bleu and The Pumas in July.

Deputy Prosecutor Gonzalo Nazar signed the documents acquiescing to the athletes' new status. However, their passport was still withheld and they were both banned from coming anywhere near the plaintiff, the Mendoza Security Ministry explained. “It is not possible to satisfy the necessary conviction standard to request the preventive imprisonment,” Nazar argued.

In addition, “a series of contradictions regarding the mechanics of the act and the existence of consent” has emerged. The Judiciary also mentioned “inconsistencies, gray areas and even insufficient explanations regarding factual circumstances as varied as the motive or intention pursued by the complainant herself when she agreed to go to the hotel.”

Moreover, “the behavior observed by the complainant when leaving the hotel [and] the jocular tone that characterizes the beginning of the conversation with her friend in the afternoon of the day of the alleged act,” have also baffled investigators.

Auradou and Jégou were arrested in Buenos Aires on July 8, days after having been with their team in Mendoza. They were charged with sexual abuse aggravated by carnal access and by the participation of two or more individuals.

Defense Lawyer Germán Hnatow told reporters that for the time being his clients would remain in Mendoza despite invitations to stay in Buenos Aires. “For now they will remain in Mendoza, but there is a possibility that they may choose to go to another province, such as Buenos Aires, where there are rugby people who want to shelter them,” the solicitor stressed.

“We trust the criteria of the Public Prosecutor's Office after three prosecutors analyzed the whole file,” he added while pledging to respect the complainant and her legal team for the duration of the trial. Hnatow also announced that he would be seeking the dismissal of all charges. Provided that is achieved, a libel suit against the woman was not to be ruled, Hnatow underlined.