The judge of the National Court Francisco de Jorge has proposed judging the former president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, for the non-consensual kiss of the Spanish national team player Jennifer Hermoso after the World Cup final, held on August 20 in Sydney (Australia).
The magistrate also proposes to try the sports director of the men's team, Albert Luque;
to the former coach of the women's team, Jorge Vilda, and to the marketing manager of the Federation, Rubén Rivera, for the subsequent pressure to which the player was subjected to agree to publicly state that the kiss had been consensual.
In the order, the judge concludes that the kiss on the player “was not consensual and was a unilateral and surprising initiative” by the investigated Luis Rubiales.
He resigned as federation president on September 10 after being disqualified by FIFA for three months, a sanction that later led to a three-year suspension.
In his description of the reported events, the judge relates that Rubiales “held the player's head with both hands, at the level of her ears, and, in a surprising and unexpected manner, he placed a kiss on the player's lips, which She was not aware of the defendant's intention to kiss her on the lips nor did she give her consent to do so.
Jennifer Hermoso, bewildered and surprised by the unexpected kiss on her lips, did not have time to react.
The player tried to downplay its importance at first and continue celebrating the team's historic victory.
However, as the hours went by, the euphoria of victory gave way to discomfort and the feeling of having been offended by the action described above, discomfort that increased due to the pressure from Luis Manuel Rubiales Béjar and his close circle to "to publicly state that the kiss had been consensual."
The judge points out in time two moments of the pressure exerted on Jennifer Hermoso.
On the return flight from Sydney and on the pleasure trip to Ibiza with which the world champions were awarded.
During the air journey, it was the coach Jorge Vilda, later fired by the federation, who was in charge of approaching the player.
"On the flight back to Spain, the defendant Luis Manuel Rubiales Béjar tried to get Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes to agree to make a public demonstration, held jointly with him, stating that the kiss had been consensual, to which the player refused, expressing his discomfort.
After asking her technical team for advice, the defendant asked Jorge Vilda Rodríguez to speak with the plaintiff's brother to convince her to participate in making a video with the intended content.
"Jorge Vilda Rodríguez looked for Rafael Hermoso Fuentes on the plane and during the conversation he warned him that if his sister did not agree to participate in the video, her refusal would have negative consequences for her and she would experience harm in her professional career as a soccer player." , writes the judge.
In Ibiza, “and on behalf of Luis Manuel Rubiales Béjar”, it was the marketing director, Rubén Rivera, and the sports director, Albert Luque, who bore the brunt of the alleged coercion of Hermoso.
Both continue to hold their respective jobs in the federation.
“Rubén Rivera, in charge of the logistics of the team's trip to Ibiza, asked Jennifer Hermoso, repeatedly and persistently, to speak by phone with the Federation's head of integrity [Miguel García Caba, also fired].
Rubén insisted that she should participate in the video exonerating Luis Rubiales.
Jennifer Hermoso informed him that she did not wish to talk about this topic.
Despite Jennifer Hermoso's clear refusal, expressing her exhaustion, Rubén Rivera Teijido repeatedly insisted that she speak with Albert Luque Martos, also with the intention of insisting that she participate in the video.
“Jennifer Hermoso responded to Albert Luque on WhatsApp, again refusing to speak with him,” the car states.
The insistence of Rivera and Luque through a friend of Jennifer Hermoso is also recorded in the writing of Francisco de Jorge: “Rubén Rivera Teijido insisted again through the person of a friend of Hermoso, maintaining for hours the persistent requests to that friend to convince the player to talk to Albert Luque.
Given the repeated refusals, Albert Luque showed up at the hotel trying to force Jennifer to talk to him to convince her to participate in the video.
Albert Luque insisted through WhatsApp to Jennifer Hermoso and also personally insisted, for approximately half an hour, to the player's friend so that Jennifer could talk to him.
Finally, in the face of the emphatic refusal, Albert Luque sent a WhatsApp message to Jennifer's friend, insisting on his request for help to justify Luis Rubiales' behavior, expressing his anger, accusing her of being a bad person, wishing her to be very alone in life and announcing to him that he will be happy for that to happen.”
The judge concludes that the pressure to which the player was subjected “created a situation of anxiety and intense stress.”
The magistrate adds that the purpose, erotic or not, or the state of euphoria and agitation experienced as a consequence of the extraordinary sporting triumph, are elements whose consequence and legal consequences must be assessed in the oral trial before the body in charge of the prosecution.
Furthermore, the instructor affirms that there is sufficient evidence of the commission of the events narrated in his record and that these events are criminally relevant, making an accusation perfectly sustainable.
For the magistrate, it is not necessary to make a detailed qualification or specify the specific criminal types, since it is enough to assess that in the most severe of the possible classifications they would not exceed the scope of penalties that fall within the abbreviated procedure.
In this case, he indicates that the kiss on the lips "affects the sphere of intimacy reserved for sexual relations, particularly in the context of two adults."
Regarding the conduct of Vilda, Rivera and Luque, the judge also considers that there are indications of the existence of a concerted action by the three, agreed with Luis Rubiales, “to break the will of Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes and get her to agree to record a video in which he said that the kiss had been consensual.”
These facts, according to the judge, could constitute a criminal offense related to the main crime indirectly attributed to Luis Rubiales, even regardless of whether it could, eventually, have the nature of a minor crime, something that is not prejudged in the order.
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