Alexia Putellas, Irene Paredes and Misa Rodríguez have confirmed in the National Court that Luis Rubiales and people in his professional environment coerced Jenni Hermoso to justify her version that the kiss he imposed on her mouth after the World Cup final was consensual. legal sources report. The three players of the women’s team were summoned this Monday as witnesses in the open procedure against the former president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for alleged crimes of sexual assault and coercion. Rodríguez, who plays for Real Madrid, testified in person at the headquarters of the special court in Madrid, while Putellas and Paredes, FC Barcelona players, did so by videoconference from the Ciutat de la Justícia in Barcelona.
Before the judge, the three “have confirmed what they are aware of” what was stated by the soccer player in her statement before the Prosecutor’s Office, the same sources maintain. In that statement, Hermoso stated that the kiss was not consensual and that both she and her closest environment—her brother and a friend—suffered “constant and repeated pressure” from Rubiales and his professional environment to “publicly , justify and approve the act committed against his will.”
The statements of Putellas and Paredes lasted one hour and thirty minutes respectively. Unlike what happens with other witnesses who are public figures and who have to appear before the courts, the Mossos d’Esquadra have accompanied the two players at all times, even within the judicial premises.
The excessive protection of the Catalan police to the soccer players has allowed them not to have to go through the main staircase of the City of Justice. Despite the favorable treatment of the Mossos with Putellas and Paredes, the press has managed to approach both players and ask them, although the players have refused to answer.
The judge questioned the soccer players about the kiss and the alleged pressure after agreeing last week to dump the contents of the mobile phones of Rafael Hermoso, Jenni’s brother, and Patricia Pérez, the press officer of the women’s team. In addition, he also agreed to summon the men’s coach, Luis de la Fuente, and five other directors and workers of the RFEF as witnesses. Witnesses appear under the obligation to tell the truth, since failure to do so is a crime that can even lead to prison sentences.
The magistrate agreed to these proceedings – which have the approval of the Prosecutor’s Office – with the aim of deepening the investigation into the alleged coercion that the player would have suffered from Rubiales and people in her professional environment to justify the version of the former president of the RFEF that the kiss he imposed on her mouth was consensual.
Both Rafael Hermoso and Pérez appeared last week as witnesses in the case. He did the first on September 25, when he supported his sister’s version of the alleged coercion. During that statement, he pointed out former coach Jorge Vilda as one of the participants in that maneuver allegedly concocted to persuade the soccer player. Vilda is also summoned to appear on October 10, although in his case he will do so as an investigator accompanied by a lawyer.
Source: www.eldiario.es
