Sawt Falasteen - Argentine appeals court throws out rape case against French rugby players

The men, both 21, were arrested two days after winning their first international caps for France against Argentina in the western city of Mendoza.

A 39-year-old woman, whom they had met in a nightclub after the July 6 match, accused them of a vicious assault in a hotel room.

Auradou and Jegou insisted they had consensual sex with the woman after a night of drinking.

The players were kept in preventive custody for over a week in Mendoza and then under house arrest for nearly a month before being allowed to return to France last September after prosecutors said the case against them appeared flimsy.

On Tuesday, three appeals judges in Mendoza upheld a lower court's ruling last December to dismiss charges against the pair.

In a judgment seen by AFP dismissing an appeal submitted by the complainant, the judges cited a "lack of elements to support a serious accusation."

The accuser's lawyer has repeatedly vowed to exhaust all avenues of appeal, which could still include the Inter-American Court for Human Rights based in Costa Rica.

Jegou and Auradou made their first Test appearance since the accusation last month, starting on the bench for France's Six Nations opener against Wales.

H.Darwish--SF-PST