The plaintiff’s lawyer recounts a night of “excessive violence”

The two players of the French XV, Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, were indicted for gang rape in Argentina. A look back at this evening according to the testimony of the victim, and the evidence that the prosecution puts forward.

Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou spent another night in detention in Mendoza, Argentina, after being indicted for gang rape. Since the complaint was filed on Sunday, July 7, the rugby players have been arrested, taken into custody, transferred, detained and indicted. On Saturday, July 6, at 11 p.m., around twenty players from the French XV went to a beer bar, the Beerlin, after their victory against the Pumas. “I don’t know if they were very drunk, but they drank a lot, it’s true, like a team that comes with all the adrenaline you can have after a match,” remembers Andres Cirit, the owner of the bar interviewed by franceinfo.

“None of them fell or had difficulty walking. I was told that one person threw up. But overall, I didn’t see anything strange or very different from what you normally see in a bar.”

Andres Cirit, the owner of the bar where the French XV players were

to franceinfo

Around 1:30 in the morning, some of the players left the bar to go to a trendy nightclub 20 minutes from the city center. It was there that Hugo Auradou met the woman he would take to his hotel four hours later. According to the plaintiff’s lawyer, as soon as they entered the room, the player threw her on the bed, hit her, brutally undressed her, strangled her and raped her.

Then Oscar Jegou came in and hit her, choked her and sexually assaulted her before she fell asleep, according to Natacha Romano. The victim then says she was raped five more times. She left the hotel at 8:30, went home and took two sleeping pills, then filed a complaint that evening.

Both players deny violence and insist that the woman consented. For the plaintiff’s lawyer, consent is the key in this case. The results of the medical examinations show a high level of violence.

“Consent ends with no, regardless of location, context or age.recalls Natacha Romano. My fundamental proof is the victim’s body, because it speaks for itself. That is where the credibility and reality of the facts arise. In this case, there was disproportionate violence,” denounces the lawyer.

There was an excessive denigration, with a deprivation of liberty that it is important to highlight.

Natacha Romano, lawyer for the plaintiff

to franceinfo

The lawyers now have seven days to present evidence for and against them in order to obtain house arrest. The victim’s lawyer, for her part, is aiming for the incarceration of the French and intends to rely on the countless physical evidence present in the file.

Until now silent, the French could, according to their Argentinian lawyer, make a statement this week to give their version of the facts. The families of Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou arrived last weekend in Mendoza. They will be able to visit the players on Monday.

This week is crucial for the players, who must continue their medical examinations and psychological assessments. The text messages as well as the surveillance cameras of the hotel and the nightclub will be analyzed and the first witnesses will be heard on Monday by the prosecution.