A trial should take place in the “forced kiss affair”: the prosecution, which presents its requisitions in advance in Spain, demanded two and a half years in prison on Wednesday against the former strongman of Spanish football Luis Rubiales for kissing Jenni Hermoso without her consent.
This kiss on the mouth of the Spanish number 10 in front of cameras around the world, a few minutes after the triumph of “la Roja” (the national team) on August 20 in Sydney during the final of the Women’s World Cup, had caused a wave of indignation in Spain and abroad, forcing Mr. Rubiales to resign the following month.
He could therefore also put him behind bars for two crimes, the first of sexual assault, for which the prosecution requests a year in prison, the second of coercion, for which the required sentence is a year and a half in prison.
The public prosecutor also requests that Mr. Rubiales be placed on probation for two years after the completion of his sentence and that he pay 50,000 euros in compensation to the player for the sole offense of sexual assault.
The date of a possible trial is not yet known.
Since a recent reform of the Spanish Penal Code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a criminal category bringing together all types of sexual violence, including rape.
The offense of “coercion” refers to the “pressure”, direct and indirect, exerted on the player in the days following the incident to convince her to say that the kiss had been consented to, in particular by means of a video.
Three other people from the RFEF are being prosecuted in this case for the same offense of coercion.
776099788 / FRANCK FIFE / AFP/Archives
The prosecution is therefore demanding a year and a half in prison against Jorge Vilda, the former coach of the women’s team, Rubén Rivera, the former marketing director of the Federation, and Albert Luque, the sports director of the men’s team.
The prosecution is also asking these three men and Mr. Rubiales to pay compensation of 50,000 euros to be paid “jointly” to Jenni Hermoso for the crime of coercion.
“Sphere of Intimacy”
The judge of the National Court who led the investigation concluded that this kiss had “not been consented” and was “a unilateral initiative, made by surprise”, explained the judicial body in January.
“A kiss on the mouth affects the sphere of intimacy relating to sexual relations,” she continued, believing that it would be up to the court “to assess during the trial” the consequences of “(its) erotic purpose or not, just like the state of euphoria and agitation felt following the extraordinary sporting triumph” of the Spanish team.
Luis Rubiales, 46, continued to highlight in his defense his “emotion” during the coronation of “la Roja”, “a moment of happiness”, denying any “sexual connotation”.
On August 20, a few minutes after the women’s team’s victory in Sydney, he grabbed Jennifer Hermoso’s head with both hands and kissed her by surprise on the mouth. He always claimed that Jenni Hermoso agreed.
FRANCK FIFE / AFP/Archives
A version denied by Jenni Hermoso, who said she “felt vulnerable and victim (…) of an impulsive and sexist act, inappropriate and without any consent on (her) part”.
Initially refusing to resign for “a little consensual kiss”, he attacked five days later, during a resounding speech, what he described as “false feminism”.
Under pressure, he finally left office on September 10, saying he was the victim of a “disproportionate campaign”.
He has since been suspended for three years from all football-related activities by the International Federation (Fifa), a decision he wants to appeal.
Spanish justice has also prohibited him from approaching less than 200 meters from Jenni Hermoso, 33, who despite herself has become a global symbol of the fight against sexual violence and was elected woman of the year 2023 by the Spanish edition of the prestigious American magazine GQ.
These requisitions from the prosecution of this Madrid court come two days after the release – pending his appeal trial – of Brazilian footballer Dani Alves, sentenced to four and a half years in prison at first instance for the rape of a young woman in Barcelona (north-east) in December 2022.
