A court in Mendoza on Tuesday allowed two French rugby players who have been held for almost two months on rape charges to leave the country.
During a hearing in the provincial capital, the plaintiff's attorneys did not oppose a prosecution recommendation authorising the pair to depart Argentina.
“The decision is final and they can leave the country from this moment," Criminal Court No. 1 of Mendoza said in a press release.
The prosecution, in its recommendation to the court, had said that the accusation had "lost its initial force."
Oscar Jégou and Hugo Auradou – both aged 21 – were arrested in Buenos Aires two days after winning their first international caps against Argentina in a rugby union match in Mendoza back in early July.
They were charged with the aggravated rape of a 39-year-old woman who claimed they raped and beat her in a Mendoza hotel room after their match.
According to the complaint, the events took place on the night of July 6/7 at a hotel where the French national team was staying.
The plaintiff says she was violently and repeatedly raped by the pair. The men deny the accusation, saying they had consensual sexual relations with the woman.
They were first held in a Mendoza prison, and later released on house arrest before being allowed to return to the Argentine capital last week pending a request for charges to be dismissed against them.
A date for that hearing has yet to be set.
In a report to the court filed in August, the prosecutor's office in Mendoza said that there were no elements to request the pre-trial detention of the accused because there was insufficient evidence and “contradictions” in the plaintiff’s account.
"They can leave," provincial justice spokesman Martín Ahumada confirmed to AFP.
The ruling allowing the players to depart for France requires them to "appear if they are summoned to the Argentine consulate in France," to appear virtually "as often as required," or even to 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.
Defence 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.
– TIMES/AFP
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