Argentine court lets two French rugby players accused of rape fly home while investigation continues

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentine prosecutors said Monday they would allow two French rugby players accused of brutally raping a woman to fly home, even as investigations into the explosive case continue.

A judge in the Argentine city of Mendoza in the west of the country, where the alleged attack took place, has yet to sign the ruling that clears the way for the two French international players Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou to leave the country. The 21-year-old athletes were arrested in early July after a woman filed a complaint accusing them of repeatedly raping her. They protest their innocence.

The 39-year-old Argentinian woman’s shocking report has shook the French rugby world and initiated a Media storm in Argentina.

Prosecutors in Mendoza, about 1,000 kilometers west of Buenos Aires, confirmed the decision to allow the defendants to leave the country and set a series of conditions for the period after their release while the case against them continues. Auradou and Jegou agreed to appear before Argentine consular officials in France, provide a legal address and return to Mendoza at the court's request, prosecutors said.

Prosecutor's spokesman Martín Ahumada told reporters that the judge would decide on Tuesday whether to give the green light for Auradou and Jegou to leave the country following a court hearing related to the investigation into their mental state.

The rugby players admitted having sex with the plaintiff – they had met the plaintiff in a nightclub in Mendoza while celebrating their victory against the Argentine Pumas on July 7 – but insisted that the encounter was consensual.

After being arrested in Buenos Aires while their teammates continued their regional tour in Uruguay, Auradou and Jegou were placed under house arrest in Mendoza in mid-July, where they were Month until the court ordered her release. In a surprise reversal, the case against her appeared to be on the verge of collapse last month when prosecutors admitted that the victim's testimony contained glaring inconsistencies that called her credibility into question.

In her criminal complaint, the plaintiff alleged that Auradou and Jegou took her back to her five-star hotel in Mendoza, beat her, strangled her and raped her, and prevented her from leaving her room. Her lawyer said she was later hospitalized for various injuries, including a bleeding ulcer, and received medical treatment for her state of shock and extreme stress.

The crime of aggravated sexual assault is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 20 years in Argentina.