Luis Rubiales case prosecutor requests retrial over claims of ‘partiality'
The prosecutor in the Luis Rubiales court case has officially requested a retrial after the initial proceedings were tarnished by 'the appearance of partiality', an appeal against the sentence has claimed.
The former head of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) was found guilty of sexual assault last month and fined more than €10,000 ($11,400) after kissing Jenni Hermoso following the Women's World Cup final in 2023.
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He was also restricted from going within 200 metres of Hermoso but avoided a custodial sentence. The prosecution had been seeking one year of jail time.
Rubiales and three other RFEF employees — the former Spain women's coach Jorge Vilda, the former Newcastle United forward and ex-RFEF sporting director Albert Luque and former marketing director Ruben Rivera — were acquitted of the charge of coercion.
The prosecution had alleged that the four men, who denied any wrongdoing, had pressured Hermoso into supporting Rubiales' version of events and had requested 18-month prison sentences if they were found guilty.
Prosecutor Marta Durantez has filed an appeal against the sentence reached on February 20 and requested the 'nullity of the trial' citing six grounds for appeal.
The prosecutor's office claims the 'judgement is null and void on the grounds of lack of defence and arbitrariness' and is now calling for a 'new judgement assessing the facts before the court, taking into account all the evidence admitted and adduced.'
'A declaration of a mistrial is sought with the consequent reinstatement of the proceedings so that a new trial can be held by another judge who is not tainted, at the very least, by the appearance of partiality,' the filing reads.
Durantez's office also called on the court to 'revoke the sentence (and) impose on the defendant Luis Rubiales a sentence of one year's imprisonment' while also asking that the acquittals of Rubiales, Vilda, Luque and Rivera are also 'overturned and each of the defendants be sentenced to one year and six months' imprisonment.'
Durantez's office also called on the court to 'revoke the sentence (and) impose on the defendant Luis Rubiales a sentence of one year's imprisonment' while also asking that the judgement regarding Rubiales, Vilda, Luque and Rivera is also 'overturned and each of the defendants be sentenced to one year and six months' imprisonment.'
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Rubiales kissed Hermoso as the players received their winners' medals in Sydney on August 20, 2023. He claimed that the kiss was consensual while Hermoso has consistently said she did not give consent and testified to that effect in court.
Rubiales and the three co-accused stood trial over a two-week period, as Judge Jose Manuel Clemente Fernandez-Prieto heard testimonies from Hermoso, her Spain team-mates, her family, her friends, the four defendants, the current head coach of the Spain women's team and a number of other employees at the RFEF.
Both Hermoso and Rubiales had already signalled their intent to appeal the decision of the High Court to the criminal chamber of Spain's Audiencia Nacional.
GO DEEPER
The Rubiales-Hermoso court case revealed so much - and the story is not complete yet
(Oscar Del Pozo/AFP via Getty Images)
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