The guard of honor re-forms every morning in the Salle des Pas Perdus. Shortly before nine in the morning, escorted by her two lawyers, Gisèle Pelicot entered the Avignon court and crossed the large hall to the courtroom to the applause of dozens of people. The first ovation dates back to Tuesday, September 17, the day Dominique Pelicot was heard, and the scene, extremely rare if not unprecedented in a judicial environment, is repeated every recess in the hearing, noon and night.
Sometimes a cry resounds: “We are with you, Gisèle! » Behind his dark glasses, “Gisela” gives a discreet smile and repeats ” THANK YOU “hand on heart. On Thursday, a young woman burst into tears as she passed by. The week before, an elderly man had come out of the honor guard to give her a bouquet of flowers. Since then they have sent three more to the court address.
On the street, Gisèle Pelicot receives encouragement from passersby and cars honk at her. Have you seen, in an alley near the court, the last collage not yet torn down of the fifteen days hung in Avignon by feminist groups? “They said she was devastated, but Gisèle is a fighter. » Since its opening on September 2, Mazan’s rape trial has largely overflowed the Voltaire courtroom – the largest in the Avignon court, too small for an event of this type – and is bathed in a unique atmosphere.
Great tension
Of the 51 defendants that the victim faces from the corner reserved for him, 32 appear free. They come and go, we meet them in the courthouse bathrooms or on the terrace of the neighboring café, whose owner complains because they scare away customers. The first few days, Gisèle Pelicot herself found herself among these men in line at the security gate, without moving: she has since obtained a pass.
The courtroom is closed to the public, who follow the proceedings from an adjacent broadcast room. Sixty people can sit there, and every day there are twice as many queues to get in: the vast majority of them women. It is these spectators who applaud the victim and often mock the accused.
For two weeks, tensions were high and the historic trial became a frantic trial. Very soon, the names of these defendants, whom the press had kept silent out of consideration for those around them, appeared on social networks: they appear on a list, a document accessible to all, at the entrance to the courtroom.
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