The Prosecutor’s Office requests a sentence of two and a half years in prison for the former president of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales for the crimes of sexual assault and coercion in the case regarding the non-consensual kiss he gave to the player Jenni Hermoso after the World Cup final in Sydney, on August 20.
The public ministry has sent its provisional conclusions to the National Court, in which it requests a sentence of one and a half years in prison for a crime of coercion for the former coach of the women’s team. Jorge Vilda; the marketing manager of the RFEF, Ruben Riveraand the sports director of the men’s team, Albert Luke.
In addition to the prison sentence, the prosecutor asks for Rubiales disqualification from working in the sports field during the sentence, two years of supervised release and the prohibition of communicating with the player and approaching her within 200 meters for four years.
He also wants him to compensate the international with 50,000 euros; the same amount that he claims from the other three defendants, although in his case, jointly and severally.
This case, which has been instructed by a judge of the National Court, takes place outside the investigation into various contracts in the RFEFsuch as the transfer of the Super Cup to Arabia Saudiin which it is also investigated Rubiales in a court of Majadahonda (Madrid).
A “surprise and without consent” action
The indictment of the lieutenant prosecutor of the Court, Marta Durántezdescribes a behavior of Rubiales “surprise and without consent or acceptance” of Jenni Hermoso when, during the World Cup medal ceremony, he “held her head” with both hands and “gave her a kiss on the lips.”
An action that triggered a wave of protests and that, apart from the criminal sphere, ended with the disqualification of Rubiales by the FIFA for three years.
It happened on August 20, at the New South Wales Stadium (Australia), after the victory of the women’s team in the World Cup, when Jenni Hermoso She received the protocol greeting and congratulations from the then president of the Federation, at which time he kissed her on the lips without her consent, the Prosecutor’s Office emphasizes.
Harassment of Jenni Hermoso to justify the kiss
The Prosecutor’s Office also accuses Rubiales to “constantly” and repeatedly pressure the soccer player and her entourage to “justify and approve” the kiss he gave her “against her will” in the face of “the personal and professional consequences” that he could face.
A “situation of harassment” for which he also blames the other three defendants, “trusted people” of Rubiales who acceded to their positions “under his mandate” and whose “privileged situation in the RFEF” depended on the “luck” he had.
According to the prosecutor, the pressure began at the exit of the locker room, still in full celebration, when Rubiales “urged” Jenni Hermoso to publicly declare that the kiss was consensual.
They continued on the bus, from where “he was forced to get off” so that he could sign a statement written by the RFEF “in order of Rubialeswhose “content he did not share” and which was sent to the media and also on the flight to Spainwhere the former federation president once again asked her to make a joint statement with him, to which she once again refused.
New way: pressure on family members
The Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the “repeated refusal” of Jenni Hermoso brought to Rubiales and his “trusted team” to use “another way”: supposedly putting pressure on his relatives.
The writing states that Jorge Vilda She tried to get the player’s brother to convince her, given the warning that if she did not make the public statement, there would be “negative consequences for her.”
Days later, on the trip to Ibiza of several players, the Prosecutor’s Office maintains that Ruben Rivera He went to the island and insisted Jenni Hermoso in which to speak with the person in charge of integrity of the RFEFa body that had opened a file in which “it was intended, by order” of Rubiales“his exculpation.”
Although the international refused and asked “to be left alone,” the prosecutor accuses Rivera to continue insisting and also trying to pressure a friend who was accompanying her to Jenni Hermoso talk to the fourth defendant: Albert Luke.
According to the public ministry, he also went to Ibiza to get the player to participate in a video exonerating Rubiales. She went to the hotel where she was staying and ended up sending several messages to her friend in which she accused the player of being a “bad person, wishing her to find herself very alone in life and announcing that she would be happy for her if that happen.”
The harassment situation, says the prosecutor, stopped when Rubiales was provisionally suspended by the FIFA the 26 August. A few days later, on September 10, and after previously ensuring that he was not going to resign, he ended up leaving his position. EFE
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