(Madrid) The court on Wednesday requested two and a half years in prison against former Spanish football boss Luis Rubiales in the case of the forced kiss of player Jenni Hermoso, according to his requisitions consulted by AFP .
The former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) is being prosecuted for “sexual assault” and the offense of “coercion” after having surprisedly kissed the No.10 of the Spanish women’s team on the mouth on August 20. in Sydney, a few minutes after the coronation of the “Roja” in the World Cup, a gesture which provoked indignation in Spain and abroad.
In Spain, the public prosecutor’s office makes its requests known in advance, before the trial. The date of the trial of Mr. Rubiales and his three co-defendants is not yet known.
According to its written submissions, the court requests one year in prison for the offense of sexual assault and a year and a half for the offense of coercion, Mr. Rubiales being accused of having exerted pressure, direct and indirect, on Jenni Hermoso to that the player claims that the kiss was consensual.
The court also requests that the former Spanish football strongman be placed on probation for two years after serving his sentence and that he pay 50,000 euros ($73,000) in compensation to the player for kissing him. strength.
As for the other three defendants, the sentence requested against them is one and a half years in prison for the offense of coercion. They are Jorge Vilda, coach of the women’s national team at the time of the events, Rubén Rivera, former marketing director of the RFEF, and Albert Luque, at the time sports director of the men’s national team.
Mr. Rubiales is currently at the center of another legal case which last week led to searches of the Federation’s headquarters and his home, as part of a corruption investigation.
According to the Spanish press, the investigation concerns the enormous multi-year contract concluded by the RFEF to relocate the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.
According to information from the same Spanish press, Mr. Rubiales has been in the Dominican Republic for several weeks.
Since the reform of the Spanish Penal Code, a non-consensual kiss is considered in Spain as “sexual assault”, a criminal category bringing together all types of sexual violence.
The kiss on the mouth inflicted by Luis Rubiales on Jenni Hermoso in front of cameras around the world, a few minutes after the presentation of the trophy to the Spanish players in Sydney, caused a huge wave of indignation in Spain, forcing him to resign on September 10 , after saying he was the victim of a “disproportionate campaign”.
He has always denied any “sexual connotation” to his gesture, claiming to have acted out of “emotion” and in “a moment of happiness”.
The International Football Federation (FIFA) announced on October 30 its suspension for three years from all football-related activities, after having initially suspended it provisionally for 90 days.
This three-year suspension was confirmed in January by FIFA.
reference: www.lapresse.ca