ラグビー仏代表選手のレイプ事件、裁判所が公訴棄却 アルゼンチン

【メンドーサ（アルゼンチン）ＡＦＰ＝時事】ラグビーフランス代表の２選手が７月に遠征先のアルゼンチンで女性に暴行を加えたとして、レイプの罪に問われていた事件で１０日、アルゼンチンの裁判所は公訴を棄却する決定をした。（写真は事件の審理が行われたアルゼンチン・メンドサの刑事裁判所）
　起訴されていたのはウーゴ・オラドゥとオスカル・ジェグの２選手で、２人はともに代表初キャップを記録したフランス戦の２日後の７月８日、試合が行われた西部メンドサで逮捕されていた。
　女性（３９）は２人とナイトクラブで会った後にホテルの一室で暴行を受けたと訴えていたが、地元検察は先日、女性の証言に矛盾があるとして公訴の棄却を求めていた。両選手は女性との性行為は合意の上だったと主張していた。
　フランスラグビー連盟（ＦＦＲ）は、裁判所の決定に「安堵（あんど）し、満足している」と声明を発表し、両選手はパフォーマンス次第で代表に復帰できるとした。
　女性側の弁護人は、今回の決定に異議を申し立てる意向を示している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/12/11-17:34）

An Argentine court on Tuesday dismissed rape charges against two French international rugby players accused of assaulting a woman after playing a match in the country in July.
Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, both 21, were arrested two days after winning their first international caps for France against Argentina in the western city of Mendoza.
A 39-year-old woman, whom they met in a nightclub accused them of a vicious assault in a hotel room.
Auradou, a lock with French club Pau, and Jegou, a flanker with the club La Rochelle, insisted they had consensual sex with the woman after a night of drinking following their July 6 match.
A judge in Mendoza dismissed the case on the advice of the prosecution, which called for the charges to be dropped over inconsistencies in the woman's version of events.
As we expected, the French players have been acquitted because the (sexual) act was consensual, meaning there was no crime and no doubt that they are innocent, defense attorney German Hnatow announced.
The French rugby federation expressed relief and satisfaction at the outcome of the case and said that it paved the way for Auradou and Jegou to be selected again for the national team if their sporting performances allow for it.
The complainant's lawyer Natacha Romano said she planned to appeal the case's dismissal.
Auradou and Jegou were not present in Argentina for Tuesday's ruling.
The players were kept in preventive custody for a little over a week in Mendoza and then under house arrest for nearly a month before being allowed to return to France in September after prosecutors said the case against them appeared flimsy.
Their Parisian lawyer, Antoine Vey, on Tuesday hailed their judicial rehabilitation.
He added that for the players' clubs, families and the (French rugby) federation, it was a day they have been waiting for and, which, I hope, will close the difficult chapter that they experienced.
The accusations against Auradou and Jegou, coupled with racist remarks by fullback Melvyn Jaminet, for which he was sent home and given a 34-week suspension, overshadowed the French team's summer tour of Argentina.
French rugby federation president Florian Grill last month announced an overhaul of disciplinary measures in the wake of the scandals.
He also vowed to put an end to the kind of fourth and fifth half post-match celebrations that took place in Mendoza.
There will be financial or sporting sanctions in the future, he continued, regretting in previous years a form of acceptance of these excesses which could sometimes even be organized.
We cannot take all the positives from rugby, ask brands and partners to associate their image with our presupposed values and not respect them, he added.