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Mazan rape trial: Dominique Pelicot apologizes and salutes the “courage” of his wife
The first of the 51 accused in the Mazan rape trial to speak Monday morning, Dominique Pelicot tried once again to apologize to his family and praised the “courage” of his ex-wife Gisèle, before the criminal court of Vaucluse is not withdrawing to deliberate, for a verdict expected on Thursday. “I would like to start by saluting the courage of my ex-wife”, declared the septuagenarian, tried for having drugged his wife with anxiolytics during 10 years, from 2011 to 2020, to rape her and deliver her to dozens of men he recruited on the internet. “I ask her, and the rest of my family, to kindly accept my apologies,” continued Dominique Pelicot, 72 years old: “I regret what I did, causing suffering for four years (Editor's note: the date of the revelation of the facts, in 2020), I ask them for forgiveness”. Sitting in the glass box where he has been appearing since September 2 with 17 other detained defendants, he reaffirmed having told “the total truth” during the 14 weeks of debates, regretting that sometimes his attitude “could be interpreted as casualness” .Today, “I rather intend to make myself forgotten”, he warned, evoking his “inner shame”: “I have a shell that I have created, otherwise we die in prison”, continued the man who was described by several lawyers of the co-defendants as “the ogre of Mazan”, a “wolf” who would have trapped their clients by making them believe in the scenario of a libertine couple where the wife would pretend to sleep.”I can tell all my family that I love them. There you have the rest of my life in your hands”, he concluded in the direction of the five professional magistrates of the court. On November 25, the public prosecutor had requested against him the maximum possible sentence for aggravated rape, i.e. 20 years of criminal imprisonment. Against his co-defendants, most of whom were prosecuted for aggravated rape, the prosecution had requested 10 to 18 years of imprisonment. against 49 of them, prosecuted for aggravated rape, four years of prison being requested against the last, only prosecuted for “touching” Gisèle Pelicot. – “I disgust, sorry” -After Mr. Pelicot, all the other accused paraded to the microphone, in the detainees' box or to the stand for those who appear free, for a final speech. But half were limited to a simple “nothing to add”. “I'm ashamed of myself, I'm disgusted, sorry to my wife and my family”, said Jean-Pierre M., 63 years old, the second to speak Monday morning. Alone among the 51 accused not to be prosecuted for facts about Gisèle Pelicot, this disciple of Dominique Pelicot had raped his own wife by reproducing the process of his mentor, and in her company. “I will regret my actions all my life” (Mathieu D., 62 years old), “I am accused of not being empathetic, of being a monster” (Redouan F., 55 years old): with their words, several accused tried to explain their acts on Gisèle Pelicot. Others, going further, addressed Gisèle Pelicot directly, recognizing their actions and trying to apologize. “It was indeed your body that I subjected this rape to,” said thus launched Cédric G., 51 years old. “I apologize to Ms. Pelicot, I regret and I ask her forgiveness,” declared Romain V., 63, one of the four accused to have responded six times to the invitation that Dominique Pelicot had launched to them on the site coco.fr, today closed by the courts. Another accused of having gone six times to the Pelicot marital home, in Mazan (Vaucluse), Jérôme V., 46 years old, warned him that “whatever be the sentence” imposed on him at the end of the week, he will not appeal, “out of respect for the victim, so that she does not have to relive” a new trial. Against him, the prosecution requested 16 years of criminal imprisonment. On the bench of civil parties, Gisèle Pelicot was alone on Monday, with one of her two lawyers. None of his three children had made the trip to hear their father's last words. And as is now a habit, she received a standing ovation from the public as she left the courtroom. With this last statement by the accused, three and a half months of debate in an extraordinary trial took place. late Monday morning, while awaiting the verdict: “We are therefore going to go to the deliberations chamber and will only come out when we have made our decision”, announced President Roger Arata, around 10:15 a.m., specifying that “the pronouncement of the deliberate will have takes place at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. A “theoretical” date which could be pushed back to Thursday afternoon or Friday morning depending on “the duration of our deliberations”, however, immediately added the magistrate. As for the risk of flight of the 32 accused appearing free, who all risk prison sentences, in view of the prosecution's requisitions, he confirmed that they would remain free “until the deliberations are pronounced”. But “they are required to remain available and present themselves on Thursday December 19 at 9:00 a.m.”, he insisted.dac-iw/ol/abl
