Spanish prosecutors demand Rubiales forced kiss trial be re-run

The trial of former football team boss Luis Rubiales in Spain was requested by the prosecution, who questioned the judge’s lack of impartiality.

The request was made on Thursday after the Spanish government’s top criminal court last month found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for the kiss that took place after the women’s football team won the World Cup and sent him to a 10-800-euro fine ($11, 370) without putting him in jail, which feminist organizations have deemed lenient.

The prosecution had requested a total of two and a half years in prison for Rubiales, one year for sexual assault, and 18 months for allegedly coercing Hermoso to downplay the kiss, but the sentence was far short of what they demanded.

Hermoso is bringing an appeal against the sentence, which also expels Rubiales and three other defendants from coercion.

The prosecution claimed in a statement that they were contesting the sentence and that another judge had held the trial again, not least because of the appearance of bias.

They claimed that Judge Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto “unduly” obfuscated some of the evidence and barred the prosecutor from posing certain questions. Additionally, they cited the sentence’s “arbitrariness.”

Fernandez-Prieto frequently interjected and reprimanded participants during the trial for his brusque attitude.

After Spain defeated England in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final in Sydney, Rubiales was forced to relinquish his post as a disgraceful player, sparking a backlash that caused the football federation to go into a protracted period of unrest.