A mural by Italian street artist Salvatore Benintende aka “TvBoy” shows the “non-consensual” kiss on Hermoso under the expression “Respect!” (“Respect”), in Barcelona.PAU BARRENA (AFP / Getty Images)
Jenni Hermoso's life went into a dizzying rollercoaster on August 20 when then-President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, grabbed the player's head with both hands and gave her a kiss on the mouth during the World Cup medal ceremony. The striker had just won the first star for the women's team, but this moment caused by the top manager (captured by television cameras) overshadowed everything. And nothing would be the same. Under the slogan “It's over,” the Internationals rose up against a leader who clung to the position of a machismo-driven federation and, accompanied by a wave of cross-border solidarity, turned the system on its head. Now, more than four months after that moment, Hermoso is preparing to put the final piece of the puzzle into the parallel judicial investigation.
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Francisco de Jorge, judge of the National Court, summoned Jenni Hermoso this Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. to receive her testimony. The judge, who opened the Rubiales case in early September after receiving a complaint from the public prosecutor's office, believes that his investigation is “virtually complete” and that, barring any last-minute surprises, this interrogation is expected to be the “last” . Subsequently The trainer must decide whether he has sufficient evidence to propose that the former president of the RFEF or one of the other three defendants (Albert Luque, Jorge Vilda and Rubén Rivera) be brought to justice.
The origin. At the end of August, when the scandal hit the media, prosecutors were not convinced that the criminal case against Rubiales would be successful with the elements then on the table. The State Ministry had received several complaints from individuals and associations, but only opened the procedure when the player made a statement in which she said she felt “vulnerable” and “victim of aggression.” It was a first step that was followed by a strong statement from Hermoso at the headquarters of the Attorney General's Office. There, behind closed doors and in front of Marta Durántez, deputy prosecutor of the National Court, the footballer described a story that went beyond the “non-consensual” kiss and included a whole series of pressures within the federation that led to the front came out in public to “justify” the president’s actions.
The player's story became the main substantiation of the prosecutor's complaint – “I did not wait for this moment or do anything for this act to be carried out,” she said – and will serve as the basis for her interrogation this Tuesday about who he victimized falls. His words were also confirmed at that time by almost a dozen witnesses who supported his version: including four teammates (Alexia Putellas, Irene Paredes, Misa Rodríguez and Laia Codina).
Two crimes. Judge De Jorge has focused his investigation on the two crimes raised in the first lawsuit. When examining the first, a sexual assault based on a kiss on the mouth, the judge came across two conflicting versions. Hermoso denies that she gave her consent – as several witnesses emphasized to the judge, she herself told them so in the hours and days that followed. For his part, Rubiales explained in his statement as defendant, from which he emerged with an injunction over 200 meters, that the athlete gave him the green light to do the “piquito” and that she even “died of laughter”. the medal presentation. To support their argument, the defense requested the appearance of two lip-reading experts; However, she was unable to confirm the alleged victim's consent because the cameras captured her from behind.
Luis Rubiales and his lawyer arrive at the National Court in mid-September to testify as the defendant. Samuel Sanchez
The summary deals with a second crime of coercion, which stems from the alleged pressure exerted in the hours and days that followed on the athlete and her entourage to go public and downplay the significance of Rubiales' act, which was increasingly in evidence cornered. At this point the other three defendants come into play: Jorge Vilda, who is later fired from his position as coach of the women's team; Albert Luque, director of the national team (men); and Rubén Rivera, Marketing Manager of the Federation.
Pressure. Vilda's credibility is questioned. The coach denied that he had been involved in any kind of coercion against Hermoso, according to the RFEF President's guidelines, and even assured that he went to the player's family to inquire about her because he valued her. Other witnesses contradict him. Rafael del Amo, president of the National Women's Football Committee, told the judge he saw Rubiales telling the coach on the flight back to Spain from Sydney, Australia, to speak to the striker's brother. And the brother, as well as a friend who was present for the conversation on the plane, added that Vilda had pressured them and told them to think about the “personal and professional consequences” the athlete could suffer.
With the same supposed goal, Luque and Rivera are brought to Ibiza, where the footballers celebrated the title. Luque, who was very close to Rubiales, admitted that he had tried to talk to Hermoso in the middle of the controversy (when she had decided to isolate herself as much as possible); However, he justified himself by saying that he just wanted to congratulate him on his tournament success. His version clashes with a cell phone message he sent to a friend of the player that read: “What is being done to Luis seems so unfair to me.” Jenni's attitude seems so humanly low… So little empathy and humanity … A simple gesture: taking a person away [el] biggest brown horse of his life. Knowing there is no malice in jumping on the bandwagon and killing him… So unfair […] Didn't welcome the RFEF sports director and friend for two minutes? The only thing I wish for him in life is that he gives back what he wrongfully made a person pay.” Rivera, for his part, claimed that he was on the island because he organized the trip as a federation employee and acted as a kind of organizer for the world champions .
Demonstration in support of Jenni Hermoso in Madrid in August. Andrea Comas
Armored thing. The expectations for this Tuesday are maximum. Hermoso's statement, after several months of calm, is expected to bring the Rubiales case back to the center of the hurricane. The impact was already enormous in September and sources from one of the central investigative courts assure that in recent months they have noticed an increase in the number of complaints filed about alleged sexual assaults committed abroad, which were judged by the national audience. Likewise, Judge De Jorge, who has been on this court for less than a year and has seen this investigation become his first major media case, has sought to protect the summary to avoid leaks. The judge stopped making the audio and video recordings of the interrogations available to the parties and warned the lawyers that these disclosures could be used to commit crimes, especially after the statement to the prosecutor's office of the football player, who has the status of a victim of a crime, was made public alleged sexual assault and has already asked the teacher for “protection” to protect her privacy.
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