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Mazan rapes: victim calls for closure of support funds
Gisèle Pelicot, whose husband is on trial in Avignon for drugging her in order to have her raped by strangers, a widely followed trial, requested on Friday the closure of support funds and “the greatest moderation on social networks”. “Mrs. Gisèle Pelicot and her family thank all the people who have sent massive amounts of support from all over the world since the start of the trial”, indicated their lawyers Stéphane Babonneau and Antoine Camus, in a press release. “Nevertheless, our client absolutely wishes to preserve the dignity and serenity of the debates currently taking place. (…) She therefore calls today for the greatest moderation on social networks, does not want in any way the opening of online support funds and requests the closure of those already open”, they write. At least one online fundraiser has been launched, by Nabilla Benattia, a former reality TV star turned influencer. Entitled “New life for Gisèle Pelicot”, it aims to “contribute to the legal costs (of the victim) and help her get through this terrible ordeal”. Opened Thursday evening, it was “being verified” by the hosting site Friday at 11:00 a.m., after approaching 40,000 euros. Since its start Monday before the criminal court of Avignon, this extraordinary trial, with 51 defendants – the husband and 50 other men aged 26 to 74 – accused of raping Ms. Pelicot, from July 2011 to October 2020, after she had been drugged with anxiolytics by her husband, has aroused enormous interest. Traditional media in France and abroad and social networks are passionate about the case, especially since the victim wanted the trial not to be held behind closed doors, in order to draw attention to the phenomenon of chemical submission and so that “the shame changes sides”. Lists with the names of the accused, sometimes accompanied by cryptic comments such as “if it can be useful”, are thus circulating on the networks, in particular on X (ex-Twitter). Defense lawyers also complained at the hearing of being “assaulted” on social networks. The president of the criminal court, composed only of professional magistrates, Roger Arata, responded on Thursday by recalling the “fundamental principle” of the presumption of innocence. But he stressed that his “police” power, provided for in the code of criminal procedure, was limited to what happens in the courtroom. “Our clients are perfectly aware that this case is the tragedy of families, on both sides of the bar because those of the accused have not asked for anything either,” insisted to AFP Me Camus, one of Ms. Pelicot’s lawyers. “The lawyers for the civil party are taking the measure of what the scope of these hearings can represent for other families,” Paul-Roger Gontard, lawyer for two defendants, welcomed to AFP. “Everyone has the right to respect,” he insisted. “Today on social networks, we display in definitive terms names, professions, marital statuses, lives, existences that could in a few months be recognized as innocent.” “A serene justice is not a justice in 140 characters on Twitter (today X)”, he continued. “A serene justice is a justice that, at the end of a hearing time and with constructed and reasoned debates, will or will not allow a declaration of guilt. Otherwise it is not justice, it is a judicial firing squad.”siu-so/iw/pta
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