Prosecutors appeal Rubiales sentence and ask for re-trial

The prosecutor's office has appealed Luis Rubiales' sentence for sexual assault and asks that the trial be annulled and repeated to include new evidence, and presided over by a different judge. 

Prosecutors believe that the new evidence could increase the sentence handed to Rubiales for the non-consensual kiss on footballer Jenni Hermoso, as well as prove the crime of coercion for which he was acquitted.

In February, the former Spanish Football Federation president was found guilty of sexual assault and handed a sentence of a fine, equivalent to €20 per day for 18 months, worth €10,800 in total.

The state attorneys ask for the sentence to be increased to two and a half years in prison and for the hearing to be repeated so that they can "answer the questions that were repeatedly deemed unduly inadmissible."

They want a new judge to oversee the case, one "not tainted, at the very least, by the appearance of bias." 

In her letter, prosecutor Marta Durántez strongly criticises judge José Manuel Fernández-Prieto, whom she accuses of not having been impartial and of having allowed a “disrespectful tone” to be used regarding the accusations and regarding her. 

She argues that the magistrate “did not guarantee that the trial took place in the best communicative conditions, with an imprint of serenity and balance that would have been necessary.”

Regarding the crime of coercion, the prosecutor also requests that the not guilty sentences be revoked for Rubiales as well as the other co-defendents, the former women's coach Jorge Vilda, the former director of football for the men's section Albert Luque, and the former marketing manager of the football federation, Rubén Rivera.