Fabien S.: “I was manipulated. » Joan K.: “Yes, there was manipulation. » Jacques C.: “I was fooled, that’s for sure. » Hugues M. : “I trusted too much. » “We fell into a trap”gets angry Husamettin D., who affirms without hesitation, Wednesday September 25, on the stand: “Yes, I am a victim. » These are indeed Dominique Pelicot’s co-defendants who spoke thus before the Vaucluse criminal court, in Avignon.
See also | Article reserved for our subscribers Who are the defendants in the Pelicot trial?
Add to your selections
Since September 19, nine of them, out of the 49 who appear for rape, attempted rape or sexual assault on Gisèle Pelicot – the fiftieth is on the run – have been heard. They did what they could to convince their judges that things were more complex than one might believe at first glance, and that their presence before them was due to an unfortunate spiral that had overtaken them.
The Pelicot trial has reactivated the debate on the introduction of the notion of consent into the legal definition of rape. To hear this first series of defendants, we should especially consider introducing an offense of “involuntary rape” into the Penal Code, since this is in substance what they have pleaded in recent days, maintaining the confusion between what falls under of the intention, premeditation, and consciousness of committing rape.
“The certainty of conversing with a couple”
With the images that Dominique Pelicot recorded and archived of the abuse inflicted on his former wife, previously drugged by him, it is impossible to deny the materiality of the facts: penetration of an unconscious woman. All deny, however, the slightest guilty intention. “I recognize the rape but not the intention”said several defendants. “A recognition of the facts which is not one”according to Stéphane Babonneau, one of Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyers.
“I never intended to do it, but never having had the consent of Mme Pelicot, I can only note the factsyour Lionel R.
– According to you, one can commit rape without meaning to?asked Me Babonneau.
– Yes. That day, when I got in my car, I never said to myself “I’m going to go rape this lady”.
– But on the spot, you did not ensure his consent, you had an erection. Was it involuntary rape?
– It was rape, my fault.
– Was it voluntary or involuntary rape?
– It wasn’t intentional. »
Rape without intention to commit it. The line of defense is simple: everyone claims to have been unaware, before setting foot in Mazan (Vaucluse), that Gisèle Pelicot was drugged without her knowledge. It was a given, they say, that she agreed to participate in what was, in their eyes, a “sexual play”and “couple delirium”. “The announcement, underlined Paul-Roger Gontard, defense lawyer, ce was not: “Perverted husband seeks partner to carry out gang rape on benzodiazepines”. »
You have 71.32% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
