These six men were able to walk free from the court. After three and a half months of debate, the 51 accused in the Mazan rape trial were all found guilty on Thursday December 19 in Avignon (Vaucluse). For 50 of them, the facts concern rape, attempted rape or sexual assault on Gisèle Pelicot. The 51st was convicted of aggravated rape of his own wife, with the participation of Dominique Pelicot.
They received sentences ranging from three years in prison, two of which were suspended, to 20 years in prison. The vast majority of the men accused, 41 of them, were immediately taken into custody. Three others (Husamettin Dogan, Abdelali Dallal and Patrick Aron) are the subject of a deferred committal warrant and will therefore be incarcerated a little later. Hassan Ouamou, 30, is the only accused on the run and under arrest warrant.
In total, they are thereforeix not to be subject to any warrant of committal, which means that they will not return to prison. One of them was also at the origin of a stampede when he left, as set up by France Bleu Vaucluse.
Among these men is Joseph Cocco, 69 years old. He received the lowest sentence, three years in prison, two of which were suspended, for sexual assault in a meeting on Gisèle Pelicot, while the requisitions were for four years in prison. The sixty-year-old has already served eight months of pre-trial detention and will therefore finish serving his sentence, i.e. the remaining four months, outside the prison walls, as part of the modification of his sentence. His lawyer stood out in particular for shouting, according to a video posted by The Dauphiné liberatedto the feminist demonstrators who came in support before the Avignon court: “My client is free, he thanks you and he says: 'Shit!'.
Initially prosecuted for aggravated rape, Saifeddine Ghabi was sentenced to the same sentence as Joseph Cocco. “Rape is not established, because it could not be proven that there was penetration and nor attempted rape. He is therefore convicted only of sexual assault”explains his lawyer, Antoine Minier, contacted by franceinfo. After having already served six months in pre-trial detention, Saifeddine Ghabi only has six months left to serve. “His sentence will therefore be adjusted by the sentence enforcement judge”details his advice.
Jacques Cubeau, 73, received five years in prison, three of which were suspended for aggravated rape, compared to ten years required. He appeared free at trial, like 31 other defendants, after serving a year in preventive detention. Following this verdict, he only has one year left in prison, a sentence light enough to leave free, as he had arrived. According to his lawyer, contacted by franceinfo, his remaining year will be arranged with the sentence enforcement judge. It can, for example, be placed under an electronic bracelet.
Hugues Malago, Philippe Leleu and Didier Sambuchi, released Thursday, were all three sentenced to five years in prison, two of which were suspended. A sentence less severe than requisitions. Hugues Malago has already served seven months in pre-trial detention. This 39-year-old former tiler was not on trial for rape, but for attempted aggravated rape, which may have influenced the judges' decision not to require a committal warrant for him, even though the law provides the same sentence for rape and attempted rape.
Philippe Leleu was found guilty of aggravated rape, but this 62-year-old gardener, who has already served ten months in pre-trial detention, was not given any committal warrant, and will see the remainder of his sentence adjusted. During the debates, he recognized digital penetration. “I didn’t know that a finger was rape,” he told the audience. Didier Elderberries68, served 10 months of pre-trial detention. Added “to the application of the sentence reduction credit, [il] will therefore be summoned later before the sentence enforcement judge for adjustment”asserts his lawyer, Roland Marmillot, to BFMTV.
