Portugal Colonial - French rugby players accused of rape granted house arrest for now

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

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

The 39-year-old complainant says she was violently and repeatedly raped by the pair, who insist there was a consensual sexual encounter.

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

They will be equipped with electronic monitoring bracelets, the office said in a statement.

Just minutes later, the men were taken from the detention center where they had been held since last week, AFP witnessed.

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

French Rugby Federation president Florian Grill said this week the body had found a house in Mendoza to rent for the purposes of house arrest. All expenses are to be repaid by the men's families.

Natacha Romano, the complainant's lawyer, told AFP on Wednesday that "as long as they remain in our country, in Mendoza, it makes no difference where they are detained."

The pair face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

O.Salvador--PC