DIRECT. Mazan rape trial: Gisèle Pelicot’s children are “disappointed with these low sentences” inflicted on the 51 accused

Thursday 19th December 2024 06:59 AM

12h21.

The children are “disappointed with these low sentences”

The children of Gisèle Pelicot said they were “disappointed” with the sentences imposed on the 51 accused in the Mazan rape trial, which range from 3 to 20 years of criminal imprisonment, considering them too “low”, in a statement Thursday to the ‘AFP. “The children are disappointed with these low sentences,” commented a member of the Pelicot family, who asked to remain anonymous. None of the family members wanted to speak to Dominique Pelicot after his sentence to the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison: “there is no question of it”, said this source.

11:39 a.m.

Among the 50 co-defendants, men aged 27 to 74, none were acquitted

In total the prosecution had requested 652 years in prison for the 51 defendants, who were ultimately sentenced to 428 years behind bars. The lowest sentence, three years in prison, two of which were suspended, was for Joseph C., 69, accused of “touching” Gisèle Pelicot, and who therefore escaped prison. The heaviest, 15 years of criminal imprisonment, targeted Romain V., 63, who came to Mazan six times to rape Ms. Pelicot. In its indictment at the end of November, the prosecution requested 18 years of imprisonment against him.

11:38 a.m.

Six convicted defendants will walk free at the end of the hearing

11h11.

Gisèle Pelicot left the courtroom

11h09.

“I will decide before December 29 whether to appeal or not,” says the lawyer

11h08.

“Mr. Pelicot has taken note of the court decision and we are giving ourselves time to decide whether to appeal,” declares Me Béatrice Zavarro, Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer.

10h42.

The court handed down sentences of 3 years, 2 of which were suspended, to 20 years in prison.

The Vaucluse criminal court on Thursday found the 51 accused in the Mazan rape trial guilty and handed down sentences ranging from three years in prison, two of which were suspended, to the maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for Dominique Pelicot. The magistrates followed the indictment of the prosecution, which had demanded that none of them be acquitted, but they imposed sentences lower than those requested by the public prosecutor, with the exception of that imposed on Dominique Pelicot for having raped and had his wife Gisèle, previously sedated, raped by dozens of strangers at their home in Mazan (Vaucluse) for a decade.

10h24.

Jean-Pierre M., the disciple of Dominique Pelicot, sentenced to 12 years in prison

The prison sentences fall for all the co-defendants. Notably Jean-Pierre M., considered the disciple of Dominique Pelicot, who is sentenced to 12 years in prison.

10h20.

Dominique Pelicot sentenced to maximum sentence of 20 years in prison

Dominique Pelicot, the main accused in the Mazan rape trial, was sentenced Thursday to the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for having drugged his ex-wife with anxiolytics for a decade before raping her and delivering her to dozens of unknown people recruited on the internet. This prison sentence is associated with a security sentence of “two thirds”, specified the president of the criminal court of Vaucluse, Roger Arata, adding that at the end of the sentence, his situation “will be subject to a review to assess his safety”. He will also be registered in the national sex offender file.

10h19.

All accused found guilty, no acquittals

10h17.

Dominique Pelicot was also found guilty of recording and possessing images taken without their knowledge of his wife, his daughter and his daughters-in-law

He was also found guilty of recording and possessing images taken without their knowledge of his wife, daughter and daughters-in-law. Dominique Pelicot, 72, stood up and listened to the president attentively but without expressing any particular emotion. He faces 20 years of criminal imprisonment.

10h16.

How Gisèle Pelicot became a feminist icon and a heroine in the fight against violence against women

Also read:
PORTRAIT. Mazan rapes: Gisèle Pelicot, victim who became a feminist icon and heroine in the fight against violence against women

10h10.

Other co-defendants found guilty

One by one, the verdicts fell for each of the accused and most were found guilty of “aggravated rape by assembly and administration of a substance”. The court did not accept the alteration of discernment requested by around thirty of them

09h51.

Dominique Pelicot “found guilty” of aggravated rape of his ex-wife Gisèle

Dominique Pelicot, the main accused in the Mazan rape trial, was “found guilty” Thursday for having drugged his ex-wife with anxiolytics for a decade before raping her and handing her over to dozens of strangers recruited on the internet. “Mr. Pelicot, you are found guilty of aggravated rape against the person of Gisèle Pelicot,” declared the president of the Vaucluse criminal court, Roger Arata, specifying that his sentence will be announced to him a little later in the morning devoted to the verdict of this trial which has become a symbol of the fight against violence against women.

09h48.

Dominique Pelicot and the other detained defendants are in the box

Unless there is a surprise, the main accused, Dominique Pelicot, 72, who admitted to having drugged his wife Gisèle with anxiolytics for a decade, to rape her and deliver her to dozens of strangers he recruited on the internet, should receive the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison requested by the public prosecutor.

09h48.

The hearing has just opened in Avignon

09h08.

Gisèle Pelicot arrived in court

The couple’s three children, David, Caroline and Florian, arrived together at the court around 8:30 a.m., pushing through a crowd of spectators, activists and journalists. Their mother Gisèle arrived separately and smiling a little after 9:00 a.m. accompanied by her two lawyers.

09h00.

The first defendants arrived in court

The accused who appear free are beginning to settle down in the courtroom, as several journalists on site observed

08h39.

Gisèle Pelicot’s three children have just arrived in court

Caroline, David and Florian, the three children of the Pelicot couple, who testified during the trial, arrived at the courthouse. Without their mother.

07h28.

What the 51 accused face…

This Thursday, December 19, the criminal court composed of five professional magistrates should announce its verdict after 14 weeks of intense and trying debates. On November 25, the prosecution requested the maximum sentence of 20 years of criminal imprisonment against Dominique Pelicot, 72, ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot. Against 49 of his co-defendants, also prosecuted for “aggravated rape”, the prosecution had requested 10 to 18 years of imprisonment, and four years in prison for the last one, prosecuted for “touching”.