The Mazan rape trial delivered its verdict after several weeks of hearings. This terrible trial revealed the dark side of a husband and around fifty men who abused a woman's body against her will. While Gisèle Pelicot was drugged by the man she married. Dozens of men engaged in sexual abuse on his inert and sleeping body.
This trial resonated well beyond the borders of France. In fact, all televisions from around the world were present at the exit of the Avignon court last week at the time of the verdict. All defendants were found guilty to varying degrees. Gisèle Pélicot's husband obviously received the heaviest sentence. Among the other accused, one agreed to testify at the microphone of Seven to Eight.
A defendant in the Pelicot trial confides
The Pelicot trial will have kept all of France in suspense for several weeks. The barbarity demonstrated by Dominique Pelicot has widely moved public opinion. He in fact handed his wife over to more than fifty men. Among these, one agreed to explain himself in front of the cameras of Seven to Eight. So it's with the masked face that he tried to explain the unspeakable. He will put forward a line of defense that is far from convincing.
He will in fact clear customs by putting much of the responsibility on Dominique Pelicot. “Fear of him.” Well not afraid of him because he didn't threaten me. I'm lost. I do what he tells me. He is quite authoritarian, directive”. The journalist will then ask him why he did not leave the room. “You can be very uncomfortable. Because of the atmosphere there. Without there being any immediate threat. Uncomfortable because first of all, we're completely naked… ».
The statement from Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer
This line of defense has been held by many defendants. It is indeed easier to put everything on the back of the only man who has nothing left to lose. However, Dominique Pelicot's lawyer insisted on holding each of the fifty defendants accountable. He revealed the content of the ad published by Gisèle Pelicot's husband. “The proposal he makes is: 'looking for perverse accomplice to abuse my wife put to sleep by my care'. He always said he had the same announcement.”
This matter is not completely closed as where some defendants decided to appeal. Gisèle Pelicot will, for her part, be able to try to rebuild herself with her loved ones and her family. Her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A banishment from society which will not allow him to see the light of day again for many years. Probably a source of comfort for his ex-wife.
