Argentine court allows rape-accused French rugby players to return home / Photo: PABLO BETANCOURT - AFP
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Argentine court allows rape-accused French rugby players to return home
An Argentine court on Tuesday allowed two French rugby players held for almost two months on rape charges to return home pending the conclusion of their case.
The plaintiff's lawyers did not oppose a prosecution recommendation to authorize the pair's departure, meaning they can "leave the country from this moment," a court in Mendoza, some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) west of Buenos Aires, said in a statement after Tuesday's hearing.
The prosecution, in its recommendation to the court, had said that the accusation had "lost its initial force."
Oscar Jegou and Hugo Auradou -- both 21 -- were arrested in early July in Buenos Aires, two days after winning their first international caps against Argentina in Mendoza.
They were charged with the aggravated rape of a 39-year-old woman who claimed they viciously assaulted her in a hotel room after a night out following the match.
The men deny the accusation, saying sex with the woman had been consensual.
They were released from detention into house arrest on July 17.
Last month, a court freed them under supervision, provided they remained in Argentina, saying there were insufficient elements to keep the men in detention given "contradictions in the complainant's account."
The pair were allowed to travel from Mendoza to the Argentine capital last week pending a hearing into a request for the charges against them to be dropped.
A date for that hearing has yet to be set.
- 'Joy and relief' -
Tuesday's ruling requires the pair to "appear if they are summoned to the Argentine consulate in France," to report virtually "as often as required," or return "to appear in Mendoza if requested."
A judge also rejected a request from the accuser for further psychological examinations of the rugby players.
The French Rugby Federation (FFR) welcomed Tuesday's ruling, and underscored the men must be considered innocent until proven otherwise.
Expressing confidence in the Argentine justice system, it said in a statement that the court's decision was "a further step towards (establishing) the judicial truth of the facts."
Auradou's club in the French city of Pau expressed "joy and relief" at the news that he would be returning home.
"This is one more step towards the recognition of his innocence," said a club statement.
According to the complainant's lawyer, Natacha Romano, her client had been repeatedly raped and suffered violence at the hands of her assailants in a hotel room, with injuries to her face, back, breasts, legs and ribs, as well as bite and scratch marks.
Defense lawyers have pointed to witnesses and cameras allegedly detecting no injuries on the woman as she left the hotel.
Attorney Antoine Vey has expressed concern about the "media hype" in a case that has caused shock in France and Argentina.
The accuser's lawyers filed a motion on Monday for the recusal of the prosecutors in charge of the case, alleging a "lack of objectivity" on their part.
The woman, her representatives say, recently tried to commit suicide and would continue to suffer "irreparable harm" while the men she accuses resume their lives in France.
E.Mariensen--HHA
