Rubiales can be sentenced for sexual harassment of Jenni Hermoso: Prosecutor's Office requests two and a half years in prison

The Spanish Prosecutor's Office requests a sentence of two and a half years in prison for Luis Rubiales, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), for the crimes of sexual assault and coercion in the case of the non-consensual kiss he gave to the player Jenni Hermoso after the final of Women's World Cup in Sydney last August 20.

The public ministry referred to the National audience his brief of provisional conclusions, in which he also requests a sentence of one and a half years in prison for the crime of coercion for the former coach of the women's team, Jorge Vilda; the marketing manager of the RFEF, Ruben Rivera, and the sports director of the men's team, Albert Luque.

In addition to the prison sentence, the prosecutor asks for Luis Rubiales disqualification from working in the sports field during the sentence, two years of supervised release and the prohibition of communicating with the soccer player and approaching her within 200 meters for four years.

He also wants him to compensate Jenni 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 audience, It is carried out apart from the investigation into alleged corruption and contracts in the RFEF, such as the transfer of the Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, in which Rubiales is also being investigated in a court in Majadahonda (Madrid).

A “surprise and without consent” action

The indictment of the lieutenant prosecutor of the Court, Marta Durántezdescribes that the behavior of Rubiales is “surprise and without consent or acceptance” of Jenni Hermoso when, during the World Cup medal ceremony, He “held her head” with both hands and “kissed her 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 Fifa for three years.

It happened last August 20, in the Australia Stadium in Sydney, after the victory of the women's team in the World Cup, when Jenni Hermoso, who had just received her medal at the awards ceremony, was receiving 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 Spanish 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 his “luck.”

According to the prosecutor, the pressure began at the exit of the locker room, still in full celebration, when Rubiales “He asked 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 she did not share” and which was sent to the media and also on the flight to Spain, where the former federation president again asked her to make a joint statement with him, to which she once again refused.

Pressure on family members

The Prosecutor's Office maintains that the “repeated refusal” of Jenni Hermoso led Rubiales and his “trusted team” to use “another route”: supposedly putting pressure on his relatives.

The writing states thatand 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 went to the island and insisted Jenni Hermoso speak with the person in charge of integrity at 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 of continuing to insist and also trying to pressure a friend who was accompanying her to Jenni Hermoso talk to the fourth defendant: Albert Luque.

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 if that happened.”

The harassment situation, says the prosecutor, stopped when Rubiales He was provisionally suspended by Fifa on August 26. A few days later, on September 10, and after previously ensuring that he was not going to resign, he ended up leaving his position.

SPORTS

With information from EFE.