A preliminary investigation against Royal Football Federation (RFEF) President Luis Rubiales, who was accused of sexual assault, was opened by Spain´s Public Prosecutor’s Office on Monday, which led Rubiales´s mother to begin a hunger strike in a church in Andalusia (south) to defend her son.
Rubiales sparked international outrage when he kissed striker Jennifer Hermoso on the lips after Spain’s World Cup final win against England in Australia on 20 August.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has no doubt that, based on the statements of the footballer, the kiss “was not consensual” and has therefore issued a decree in which it initiates the legal process to “carry out the investigation of the facts that are the subject of the complaint”, EURACTIV´s partner EFE reported.
Specifically, the Prosecutor’s Office addresses Hermoso to “inform her of her rights as a victim of an alleged offence of sexual assault” and gives the player the possibility to contact the Prosecutor’s Office within 15 days.
Judicial sources told EFE on Monday that “the judicial process has not yet (officially) begun” but that the case is “still in the pre-procedural stage” and that what the Prosecutor’s Office has done is “offering the player the possibility of formalising her public complaint”.
The Prosecutor’s Office believes that the reported facts – the kiss that Rubiales gave her while grabbing “with both hands the player’s head” – could be an offence of sexual assault and stresses in a press release the ”important public repercussion in the media at a domestic and international level.”
Rubiales´s mother defends her ‘innocent’ son
Meanwhile, Rubiales´s mother, Ángeles Béjar, went on Monday on a hunger strike over the “inhuman and bloody hunt” against her son.
Béjar locked herself in the church of the Divina Pastora in Motril, Granada, Andalusia, on Monday morning and said she was going on a hunger strike “indefinitely, day and night” until justice was done, she told EFE.
“My son does not deserve what they are doing to him”, she added, fiercely defending her son´s “honour”, sports daily Marca reported.
FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, on Saturday suspended Rubiales, whose monthly salary amounts to €600,000 -while Spain´s median salary is €30,000, from all soccer-related activities for 90 days.
At an RFEF general assembly on Friday, Rubiales refused to step down from his position as the organisation’s president and claimed the kiss was “spontaneous, mutual and consensual”.
Rubiales added that he was the target of “false feminism” seeking his “social assassination”.
Rubiales, ‘incapable of hurting anyone’
Hermoso responded to Rubiales’ refusal to quit via the soccer players’ union Futpro, saying she did not consent to the kiss and that during the incident, she felt “vulnerable and the victim of an aggression.”
The striker described the kiss as “an impulsive, sexist, out-of-place act without any kind of consent on my part.”
But on Monday, Rubiales´ mother called on Hermoso to “tell the truth” and “to stick to the version she adopted after the incident took place.”
Béjar added that no sexual abuse occurred “as there was consent on both sides, as proven in the images.”
“Why are they being so cruel to him?” the mother asked, adding that her son was “incapable of hurting anyone.”
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
Read more with EURACTIV
Catalan separatists still crucial for stable government if elections repeated: poll
Source: euractiv.com
