French rugby players accused of rape receive house arrest for the time being

French rugby international Oscar Jegou (centre) is escorted by Argentine Federal Police as he leaves Interpol headquarters in Buenos Aires on July 11, 2024, for Mendoza, where he will undergo an expert report in a rape case. (STRINGER/AFP)

Two French rugby players accused of raping a woman during a tour of Argentina were temporarily placed under house arrest on Wednesday after a week in custody, prosecutors said.

Hugo Auradou, 20, and Oscar Jegou, 21, were arrested two days after their team’s match against Argentina in the city of Mendoza, Buenos Aires.

Last Friday, they were charged with aggravated rape of a woman they met in a bar after the game.

The 39-year-old plaintiff says she was brutally and repeatedly raped by the couple, who insist the sex was consensual.

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On Wednesday, the Argentine prosecutor’s office in Mendoza granted their request for house arrest in the city pending a hearing to decide whether they should await trial in custody or as free men.

They will be fitted with electronic tracking bracelets, the office said in a statement.

According to AFP, the men were picked up just minutes later from the detention center where they had been held since last week.

“This is a very important step forward for the two rugby players and also for French rugby,” said the men’s lawyer, Rafael Cuneo Libarona.

French Rugby Federation President Florian Grill said this week the organization had found a house in Mendoza to rent for the men’s house arrest, with all costs to be repaid by the men’s families.

Natacha Romano, the plaintiff’s lawyer, told AFP on Wednesday: “As long as they stay in our country, in Mendoza, it makes no difference where they are detained.”

If found guilty, the couple faces up to 20 years in prison.