A Spanish court on Monday gave the green light to the start of the investigation into the case of Luis Rubiales’ forced kiss on player Jennifer Hermoso, the day after the resignation of the president of the Spanish football federation (FREF). The National Court announced in a press release the green light from investigating judge Francisco de Jorge to the request of the prosecution, which demanded that proceedings be initiated against Luis Rubiales for “sexual assault” and “crime of coercion” against Jenni Hermoso.
Reform of the Spanish penal code
This judge asked different media to send him images from different angles of Rubiales’ kiss on Hermoso’s mouth as well as the celebration in the locker room and on the bus of the Spanish players after their world title on August 20 in Sydney . The magistrate also ordered that the former president of the federation be officially informed of the investigation of which he is the subject.
The Spanish public prosecutor’s office, which opened a preliminary investigation on August 28, requested on Friday, after receiving a complaint from Jennifer Hermoso, that Rubiales be heard by the courts as the accused and Hermoso as the victim. Since a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a criminal category which includes all types of sexual violence.
Punishments can range from a fine to four years in prison
According to a spokeswoman for the prosecution, the penalties incurred by Rubiales can range from a fine to four years in prison. The offense of coercion was also retained because, according to the prosecution, “Jenni Hermoso explained that she had been, with her entourage, the victim of constant pressure from Rubiales and her professional entourage so that she justified and approved the facts”. The announcement of the green light at the start of the investigation comes the day after the resignation of Luis Rubiales from the presidency of the federation. He ended up throwing in the towel after refusing to leave his post since the beginning of the affair, claiming that this kiss was “consensual”, which Hermoso categorically denies.
Luis Rubiales, who was suspended at the end of August by the International Football Federation (Fifa), indicated that he was resigning in particular to concentrate on his defense. “I have faith in the truth and I will do everything in my power to make it prevail,” he wrote in his resignation letter.