Judge confirms trial against Luis Rubiales in case of forced kiss

Madrid. A judge confirmed this Wednesday that the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Luis Rubiales will face an oral trial for the crimes of sexual assault and coercion, in the case of the forced kiss he gave to the player Jenni Hermoso.

“The judge of the National Court Francisco de Jorge has agreed to open an oral trial” against Rubiales, at a later date yet to be defined, said a statement from the court.

Rubiales will sit on the bench “for the non-consensual kiss of the Spanish national team player Jennifer Hermoso after the World Cup final held in Sydney (Australia) on August 20 and for the subsequent coercion to make her make a public demonstration stating that had been consented,” the text detailed.

The Prosecutor’s Office requests a sentence of 2.5 years in prison for Rubiales for the crime of sexual assault, for the kiss itself, and for coercion, for having pressured the athlete to “justify and approve the kiss that she had received against her will.” , according to the letter from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The prosecution also requested two years of supervised release once the prison sentence is served, a ban on communicating or approaching Hermoso for four years and compensating the player with 50 thousand euros (54 thousand dollars).

Judge De Jorge asked Rubiales to post a bond of 65 thousand euros within a “period of 24 hours” to face “the civil liabilities to which he could be sentenced.”

The judge also confirmed that former women’s coach Jorge Vilda and two former Federation leaders, Albert Luque and Rubén Rivera, accused of coercion against Hermoso, will sit on the bench.

For this crime, the Prosecutor’s Office requests a year and six months in prison against them.

On August 20, Rubiales kissed Spanish number 10 Jenni Hermoso on the lips in front of cameras around the world, a few minutes after La Roja’s victory in Sydney during the women’s World Cup final.

His gesture caused a wave of indignation in Spain and abroad, and Rubiales ended up resigning the following month.

Since a recent reform of the Spanish Penal Code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a criminal category that groups together all types of sexual violence.