After eleven weeks of hearings, on Monday, November 25, the prosecution requested 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence, against Dominique Pelicot, for having drugged, raped and had his wife, Gisèle Pelicot, raped for ten years. This extraordinary trial entered its final stretch on Monday in Avignon. Coincidentally, the start of the prosecution, which could last three days, begins on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. “The accusation on this special day is another symbol”Antoine Camus, one of the lawyers for the civil parties, said Monday morning.
The Mazan rape trial, named after the town where the couple lived and where the vast majority of the events took place, “it is shaking our society in our relationship with others”commented the first of the two representatives of the prosecutor, Jean-François Mayet. The issue, according to him, “It is neither a conviction nor an acquittal.”but “fundamentally change the relationships between men and women”. Gisèle Pelicot, 71, achieved the status of a feminist icon after refusing to allow the trial to take place behind closed doors, in order to “Let shame change sides”. “It’s a lot of emotion”he said as he entered the courtroom.
Before the professional magistrates who made up the court, the two representatives of the prosecutor had planned to begin their accusation with the “driver” of this decade of violations. Dominique Pelicot, common denominator of the 50 co-defendants recruited on the Internet, to whom he had delivered his now ex-wife, previously sedated with anxiolytics, to their marital home in Mazan between July 2011 and October 2020.
Dominique Pelicot has never hidden his responsibility, calling himself “rapist”. “I am guilty of what I did (…). I ruined everything, I lost everything. I have to pay”he said shortly after the trial began. But what sentences will the prosecutor request against his 50 co-defendants? Because, although the majority are prosecuted for the same facts, that is, the aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot, and therefore run the risk of twenty years in prison, the individualization of sentences is mandatory. For example, to distinguish repeat offenders (ten men came several times) from those who came only once to Mazan.
“Twenty years for all”, demand feminist groups
Could these men, ages 26 to 74, legitimately believe they were participating in a debauched couple scenario, where the wife would pretend to be sleeping? Have they been “manipulated” By Dominique Pelicot? Or was their judgment impaired at the time of the events, as lawyers for 33 of them suggested on Wednesday? Finally, will the Prosecutor’s Office have a tougher hand with the 35 defendants who, at the beginning of the process, continued to firmly deny having participated in a “rape”, Despite the damning videos filmed by Dominique Pelicot? For the feminist groups who placed a banner on Sunday afternoon on the walls in front of the court, the request was very clear: “Twenty years for everyone”they asked.
According to the official calendar, the accusation must take place over three days. But according to information collected from the various parties by the Agence France-Presse (AFP), it could end on Wednesday morning. After the Pelicot case, the prosecution should advance in crescendo, starting with the less serious cases, those of Joseph C., 69, and Hugues M., 39, respectively accused of sexual assault and attempted rape, before boarding the 48. others (one of whom is at large).
Covered almost all over the world, with 138 accredited media outlets, including 57 foreign ones, this trial resonates far beyond French borders. As the president of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Karol Cariola, declared again on Thursday, greeting “courage and dignity” of meme pelicot, “an ordinary citizen who taught the entire world a lesson”. And over this weekend, tens of thousands of people (many women, but also men) marched across France to demand a “scare” against violence against women, many referring to this extraordinary trial.
After the accusation, on Wednesday afternoon or at the latest Thursday, the defense lawyers will be given the floor. Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, will be the first to speak. Then his companions will follow one another, until December 13. The court will then have a week to deliberate and a verdict is expected by December 20 at the latest.
