Gisèle Pelicot, who was raped for a decade by around fifty men currently on trial in Avignon, thanked the demonstrators who marched across France and Belgium on Saturday to support her: “Thanks to all of you, I have the strength to fight this fight to the end.“.
“I dedicate (this fight) to all the people, women and men, around the world, who are victims of sexual violence. To all these victims, I want to say today, ‘Look around you, you are not alone’“, said Gisèle Pélicot on the sidelines of the trial which began on September 2 in Avignon.
The continuation of the Mazan rape trial is shrouded in thick fog on Monday, as the health of the main accused, Dominique Pelicot, who has been absent for a week, has not improved. The hearing was suspended until Tuesday for a medical examination to be carried out. The result of “This expertise should be given at the end of the day. As long as we do not have this expertise, we cannot position ourselves”on the continuation of this trial, declared the president of the criminal court of Vaucluse Roger Arata.
Dominique Pelicot, who drugged his wife with anxiolytics to rape her and have her raped in her sleep for ten years by dozens of strangers recruited on the internet, had refused to appear in court Monday morning. He underwent a scan on Sunday and is suffering from a “kidney stone, kidney infection and prostate problem”Mr. Arata said. His absence calls into question the continuation of this lengthy trial, emblematic of the ravages of chemical submission and sexual violence, where 50 other men are being tried in addition to Dominique Pelicot.
“Abnormal situation”
“Words fail to express how abnormal the situation we find ourselves in this morning is. There are people whose job it is to ensure that Mr. Pelicot is fit to attend his trial“, said one of the lawyers for the civil parties, Stéphane Babonneau, at the hearing.”If this situation is due to a delay in care, it would be a scandal.” he added.
The attorney general told him: “regret this situation” and Maître Béatrice Zavarro, Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer, for her part castigated the lack of medical care for her client. “We were held hostage for eight days (at the time Mr. Pelicot’s pain appeared, Editor’s note) because if he had been taken care of from the start, we would not be here”she explained to the audience. “But he certainly still wants to express himself, he will do so.”insisted the lawyer.
Although Dominique Pelicot, who documented all the rapes by filming and taking carefully classified photos on his computer, admitted the facts, he has never yet explained himself in detail at his trial. His testimony is also crucial for the cases of the other men, aged 26 to 74, tried for rape. A postponement of this trial, which is closely followed in France and abroad, would cause many complications: “Everything has to be re-established, a schedule, the availability of the room, the court, etc. And what about those who are in detention? (This is the case for 18 of the 51 accused, Editor’s note) Because at that point, I can assume that there will be requests for release.”Béatrice Zavarro assured on Thursday.
Shortly before the hearing, Gisèle Pelicot thanked the 10,000 or so demonstrators who marched across France on Saturday, brandishing her stylized face, to support her: “Thanks to all of you, I have the strength to fight this fight to the end.”
“All Gisèle”
The facts against Mr. Pelicot came to light after he was arrested filming up the skirts of three women in a shopping center in Carpentras (Vaucluse). By searching his computer, investigators discovered a decade of rapes committed on his now ex-wife Gisèle at the marital home, located in Mazan (Vaucluse). Having become the symbol of the issue of assaults committed on people who are victims of chemical submission, this trial is also taken as an example by feminist movements to relaunch the debate on consent.
And Ms Pelicot, who refused to allow this case to be judged behind closed doors, has become a figure in the fight against sexual violence.
Mazan Pelicot trial
