The criminal type of coercion for which the Prosecutor’s Office is also complaining against Rubiales provides for prison sentences of between six months to three years, in addition to a fine.
In his statement before the lieutenant prosecutor of the National Court, the Spanish team player Jenni Hermoso not only confirmed that the kiss that Luis Rubiales planted on her mouth was an act that did not have her consent, but she added to her story that both she and her closest environment suffered”a constant and repeated pressure” by the now suspended president of the Spanish Football Federation. His objective: for the world champion to justify and approve what happened at the end of the match at the Sydney stadium.
The complaint filed this Friday by the Prosecutor’s Office, which has yet to be admitted for processing by a judge of the National Court, identifies this environment that suffered from the director’s conduct: the player’s family and friends. As a result, Jenni suffered “a situation of harassment, against the development of their life in peace, tranquility and freely”, concludes the Public Ministry.
Thus, and although he was previously only offered actions for an alleged sexual assault – punishable by up to four years in prison -, the prosecutor’s office adds to this crime that of coercion described in article 172 of the Penal Code, which provides for prison sentences of between six months and three years for anyone who “without being legitimately authorized, prevents another with violence from doing what the law does not prohibit, or compels him to do what he does not want, whether just or unjust.” The criminal sanction, which includes a fine, must be imposed “according to the severity of the coercion or the means used,” as detailed in the rule.
Violence against women
To support its accusation, the complaint is referred to Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against womenand specifies that “Spain assumes the commitment to protect women against all forms of violence, and to prevent, prosecute and eliminate violence against women and domestic violence,” according to the document signed by prosecutor Marta Durántez.
By “violence against women,” adds the Prosecutor’s Office in its complaint, it should be understood any form of discrimination against women, which involves damage or suffering of a physical, sexual, psychological or economic nature, but also “threats to carry out such acts, the coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, in public or private life.”
The story of the events
As reported by Relevo, citing eyewitnesses, Rubiales approached Hermoso during the return flight from Sydney to Madrid to beg her to appear with him in an apology video, claiming that her position “it was at stake”. The soccer player refused to comply with the president’s request.
The same media outlet claimed, again citing eyewitnesses, that the then coach, Jorge Vilda, pressured the player’s family “up to three times.” so that he could convince her to comply with Rubiales’ wishes for both of them to appear in that video. The dismissed coach denied the existence of these pressures in an interview in Ser.
The suspended president recorded this video alone at the plane stopover in Doha, ensuring that it did not exist. “bad intention on either side” in the kiss, making the player in practice a participant in the alleged sexual assault.
“Continuous pressure”
“I was asked to make a joint statement to reduce the pressure on the president, but at that time in my head I only had the idea of enjoying the historic milestone achieved together with my teammates,” Hermoso later explained, in the statement he published on his networks the day of the assembly in which Rubiales refused to resign.
“Despite my decision, I have to state that I’ve been under continuous pressure to get through with any statement that could justify Mr. Rubiales’s act. Not only that, but in different ways and through different people, The RFEF has put pressure on my environment (family, friends, colleagues, etc.) to give a testimony that had little or nothing to do with my feelings,” added the soccer player, in statements that she transferred to the Prosecutor’s Office of the National Court and that have motivated the presentation of a complaint for coercion, adding this alleged crime to that of sexual assault.