Stéphane Babonneau and Antoine Camus have spoken a lot, a lot since the trial opened. They asked many more questions than the attorneys general. They are the ones who fought, against the defense, against the president of the Vaucluse criminal court, to obtain that the videos be broadcast publicly and not behind closed doors. We clung to the calm and rationality of his interventions when the debates became brutal or delirious. Lawyers for civil parties rarely play a prominent role in criminal or judicial courts; In Mazan’s rape trial, this was the case.
For the last time, on Wednesday, November 20, Gisèle Pelicot’s two lawyers took the floor. One hour each, time to argue in the same way they had done during the hearing: sober, subtle, raising the debate without raising their voices.
Antoine Camus was the first to get up and was initially glad that his client had opted out of the closed-door session. Yes, it was necessary “open the doors of this room, invite the entire society to address this issue, make our debates a breeding ground for raising awareness, for a change in mentalities, for a better future that finally breaks with a violence that we would like another age. How can a woman, in France, in 2024, still suffer what was inflicted on Gisèle Pelicot for at least ten years? How can we find in France, in 2024, 50 individuals within a 50 kilometer radius to sexually enjoy, without the slightest exchange, a body that we would believe to be dead and that we have to turn to move? »
Opening the doors of this room will also have allowed, he stressed, “to show how we will continue to defend rape, in France, in 2024” : Gisèle Pelicot was harassed, mistreated and humiliated during the hearing by the co-accused’s lawyers, who sometimes suggested collusion with Dominique Pelicot. Also on Tuesday, some attributed direct responsibility to her for her ex-husband’s drift, accusing her of not having known how to interpret the first “signs”. It was further implied that he could not have noticed anything for ten years. METROmy Camus denounced “a form of mistreatment in court” : “Certain defense strategies no longer have a place in a judicial forum in France, in the 21st century.my century. If the defense is free, it also says what we are. »
“Free will” of the accused
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