Engaged in an unprecedented theater of operations for him, namely a public trial before the judges of the Dax judicial court, Patrick Vilhem remained “straight in [ses] boots”, this Thursday, November 7, 2024. Mayor of Pouillon, the 63-year-old former army soldier and entrepreneur walked on mined ground for more than fourteen hours of hearing, without trying to avoid combat, nor desert for the slightest moment: “I’m not a bad guy. I'm behind my time. »
“I made a mistake, I admit. But, between the phenomenon of psychosis that we have established and the media process that has been initiated, we are in an attempt to erase my person,” believes Patrick Vilhem. Remained silent since his indictment for “two stolen kisses” from a woman who denounced this sexual assault three years ago, then indicted for “16 acts of harassment, nine of which were upheld by the courts”, this strategy of withdrawal has surely been established upstream and in concert with his advice, Me Jean Gonthier.
Thus, to hear the lawyer of this mayor re-elected in 2020, after having been invested in 2014 thanks to the withdrawal of his head of list, it is the municipal opposition of Pouillonnais which would have fomented “a plot”. The offensive would even have benefited from reinforcements from the Landes socialist left to appoint “a DGS who was a mole sent on a mission” and lead the revolt with the agents of this village in the Pays d'Orthe and Arrigans, the final objective being that “the ineligibility of Patrick Vilhem be declared”.
River trial
This sanction could in fact be pronounced next Thursday, December 12, on the occasion of the rendering of the deliberations pronounced by Laure Vuitton, the president of the judicial court having investigated this trial between 9 a.m. and past midnight. It would become necessary when an elected official is found guilty of sexual assault, as Anne Kayanakis explained in the epilogue to her requisitions. The requested “provisional execution” would then be applied, even in the event that Patrick Vilhem wishes to appeal his conviction.
A two-year prison sentence with a probationary suspension of two years was also requested by the magistrate of the Public Prosecutor's Office. “We are faced with someone who behaves badly, commits offenses and denies the offensive behavior he may have towards his victims. » Today he is prohibited from having contact with these nine people, if he is convicted he will have to compensate them. In this case, Patrick Vilhem will also be required to receive psychological care.
The character's “narcissistic traits” appeared in particular from the start of the trial, with a full morning devoted to studying the personality of “this former soldier, almost to the point of caricature”. Laure Vuitton, for her part, criticized her “tendency towards victimization”.
Audiard or Bigard?
“He’s a cad but not a harasser,” pleads his Bordeaux lawyer. Patrick Vilhem has the figure of an adventurer worthy of appearing in an Audiard feature film. His words, however, are more often closer to those of Jean-Marie Bigard, as suggested by M.e Frédéric Lonné, responsible for representing the victims of the mayor of Pouillon.
“What you call the liberation of speech was achieved through emulation between these women”
The thirty people interviewed during the investigation allowed Anne Kayanakis to read an anthology of libidinous words spoken by the defendant. For Patrick Vilhem, women are “fuckable, not fuckable or badly fucked”. Ready to pounce on the lawyer for the civil parties when he mentioned “hussar and guardroom humor”, the former soldier who notably participated in Operation Daguet in Iraq even added a few to his record during his speaking engagements.
“What you call the liberation of speech was achieved through emulation between these women,” he judges at the beginning of the affair. He is of the school of “rooster that does not go into the neighboring henhouse”, but recalls that “the virus has passed under the door to contaminate the entire barnyard”.
Crime of the time
Me Jean Gonthier himself launched a sustained salvo against this “pseudo-evolution of morals which is fracturing society”. In this context, remembering that “a stolen kiss can be worth up to seven years in prison” is a godsend for him.
“We are at a crossroads regarding the perception of the offenses committed,” analyzes Me Frédéric Lonné. After giving the floor to the victims who wished it, the former president of the bar emphasized the importance of the first complaint filed against the mayor of Pouillon. “Everyone knew, everyone suffered. But everyone in their own corner, without daring to talk about it. »
Faced with the last stand against wokism led by the defendant and his lawyer, Me Lonne also brought the attention of the magistrates back to Pouillon. “We need to know if we are in the trial of an era, a debate between ancients and moderns, or in the trial of a crime. Humiliating, degrading comments, often with sexual connotations, are there. »
