The judicial process for the Rubiales case has reached a new dimension. Since the beginning, the leaks about the people who have been testifying have been constant.: from the statement of the former president of the Federation himself to that of the international player. To this we must add the revealed WhatsApp that comes from others mentioned such as Albert Luque, director of the men’s team – who declared this Monday – or Rubén Rivera, marketing director of the RFEF.
This succession of leaks has led TMJ, Jenni Hermoso’s representation agency, to “remember that all criminal proceedings must be carried out with guarantees to preserve the rights of the victims”. The communication does not expressly cite which statements lead to his position, but practically from the beginning of the process, even with immediacy, the testimonies have been revealed. Hermoso has even asked the judge to suspend the summons of Luque and witnesses already summoned, due to these leaks.
“These events not only put his health at risk, they also put at risk the reliability and independence of the judicial process in which we have trusted so much at all times,” says the company that represents Hermoso, who announced that it had decided to take different actions to “protect and guarantee your privacy.” Among them, they have urged “the competent bodies to take measures against those responsible for the leaks and to seek solutions to guarantee the security and custody of the information in the case during the criminal process.”
Statement by Luis Rubiales
Luis Rubiales’s 54 minute and 36 second statement at the National Court was published by ‘El Español’ on October 4. “We won a World Cup, there are signs of affection. This is not that someone has secretly taken someone to an office to forcibly kiss them. No. It was something so natural, in the light of millions of eyes, between two people who have been living together for a long time.“Rubiales said in his statement.
One of the lawyers asked him if he considered that he had respected Jennifer Hermoso when he kissed her and Rubiales’ response was as follows on this issue: “Come on, I asked him before! How can I not respect it? And she left laughing and slapping me twice on the side.“. “How am I going to ask for forgiveness if we were both super happy?” also stated the former president of the RFEF, who assured that Jennifer Hermoso “is not telling the truth even when she says that I have two daughters, because there are three.”
Testimony of Jenni Hermoso
On October 9, the program ‘Código 10’, on Telecinco, revealed Jenni Hermoso’s statement before the lieutenant prosecutor of the National Court Marta Durántez. “At no time was it consented. I didn’t feel respected, I wasn’t respected either as a player or as a person.. I was experiencing something historic and I thought that something like this was going to have consequences. “I didn’t do anything to find myself in that situation,” said the current Pachuca player about the action experienced in the Sydney final.
“It was a historic event, it had cost us our lives, at no time could I expect something like that to happen. I hugged the queen, her daughter… Rubiales was a trustworthy person, I didn’t think he would do something like that. I didn’t have time to react, I immediately went down to the stage and the first thing I did was tell my two companions, to Alexia Putellas and Irene Paredes,” the player said in her version of the events.
The words of Alexia Putellas, Irene Paredes and Misa Rodríguez
Several media outlets also reported the statements of Alexia Putellas, Irene Paredes and Misa Rodríguez, national team players and Jennifer Hermoso’s teammates. The three of them supported the Pachuca soccer player’s version of Luis Rubiales’ non-consensual kiss before the judge. The three players, according to sources in the judicial procedure, confirmed themselves point by point in their previous statements before the Prosecutor’s Office.
The three players shared confidences with Jennifer Hermoso during the hours after the kiss. The judge’s interrogation was aimed above all at determining the “direct knowledge” of Hermoso’s colleagues of these alleged pressures during certain specific moments.
Appearance of Jorge Vilda
The appearance of Jorge Vilda, whom the judge in the Rubiales case cited as a defendant, as happened with Albert Luque, after the statement of Jenni Hermoso’s brother. The former coach acknowledged that he spoke with him, but denied pressure or coercion and disassociated the former president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales. He assured that he did it ‘motu proprio’ to “lower the soufflé” and justified that he did not speak directly to her, because he saw her overwhelmed.
Vilda also assured that she noticed a difference between the atmosphere that existed with the players in the stadium where the final was played and that which existed on the return plane. Seeing the player so overwhelmed, whom she said she had a lot of appreciation for, it was when she, as she stated, chose to talk to her brother. In that conversation, according to Vilda’s version, he downplayed the kiss, while the then coach He indicated to her that, perhaps, “to lower the soufflé” it was better for her to go out and give her version to the media.
WhatsApps from Luque to a friend from Hermoso
In addition to the judicial statements themselves, content related to those involved in the investigation has also been leaked. It is the case of the WhatsApp sent by the director of the National Team, Albert Luque, to a close friend of Jenni Hermoso. “He deserves nothing for his human baseness, his little empathy and humanity with Rubiales,” he wrote in messages that were made public in ‘El Mundo’.
The former president of the RFEF stated, without any apparent signs of regret, that it was “something natural between two people who have been living together for a long time.” Albert Luque testifies this Monday at the National Court.
Messages from the marketing director of the RFEF and Hermoso
The latest leak in the Rubiales case had to do with the conversations between Jennifer Hermoso and Rubén Rivera, marketing director of the RFEF, during the player’s trip to Ibiza after winning the World Cup. According to what the Spanish player stated in the Prosecutor’s Office, as well as to her friend Ana Ecube, the marketing director of the RFEF, would have pressured and coerced them for Jennifer to testify in favor of Luis Rubiales to ‘soften’ the situation.
Rivera defends, however, that the messages exchanged with Hermoso were in a casual tone. and presented screenshots of the messages exchanged between the two in which the player’s phrases such as: “Make magic!” (to ask that her friend Ana Ecube could participate in the trip) or “Rubén, can you tell your wife that I don’t have a bikini. She asked me and I told her that she did have one, haha.”
Upon her arrival in Ibiza, the first pressure reported by Jenni Hermoso would come: the call from Miguel García Caba, director of Integrity. “I tell him to leave me alone, I had just arrived in Ibiza, with two days without sleep. I told her to put the phone down,” said Hermoso, who says that Rivera would try to convince her in the afternoon to talk, this time, with Luque.
The position of Ana Álvarez, communications director
One of the first leaks of this process, but which ended up conditional on the rest of the charges investigated, was the position of Ana Álvarez, communications director of the women’s team. Álvarez assured that Jennifer Hermoso had approved the statement that the RFEF sent as hers. It would also be corroborated by Pablo García Cuevo, dismissed as communications director – he will appear on October 20 – and Patricia Pérez, press chief.
More leaks and reprimand from the judge
Based on how the events have transpired in the trial of the Rubiales case, with systematic leaks from witnesses and defendants, it is expected that the testimonies of the next appearing parties will also gradually fall.. From the environment of the case, we speak of interested revelations to influence the development of the process itself..
All of this has led the judge of the National Court, Francisco de Jorge, to remove the audios of the statements and transcripts from the platform with the documentation of the case to which the parties have access. In this way, whoever wants to consult them to follow up on the investigation and in response to new statements, It must be done in person at the National Court. A process with which to preserve the secrecy of the process and to prevent, as can be seen from Jennifer Hermoso’s statement, her from considering not testifying before the magistrate.