And these words will be listened to with attention, as this trial has become symbolic of the fight against sexual and gender-based violence against women. Covered in mondovision or almost, with 138 accredited media, including 57 foreign, it has an echo well beyond the French borders, as the president of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies testified again on Thursday, saluting “courage and dignity” of Gisèle Pelicot, “an ordinary citizen who taught the whole world a lesson”.
“Justice and truth”
Beyond the husband, who recognizes all the facts, the big question will be the following, for the two representatives of the public prosecutor, Jean-François Mayet, deputy public prosecutor of Avignon, and Laure Chabaud deputy prosecutor: the Pelicot's accomplices, these “everyman” aged 26 to 74, could they legitimately believe that they were participating in the scenario of a libertine couple, where the wife would do pretending to sleep? Or was their discernment impaired at the time of the events, as the lawyers of 33 of them again assured on Wednesday morning, even if none of the psychologists or psychiatrists who examined them took this point into account?
On the official schedule, this indictment is scheduled for three days. According to information collected from the various parties, it could in fact end late Wednesday morning, with the prosecution estimating the time it will spend on each accused at around 15 minutes on average.
After eleven weeks of debates dedicated to the examination of the facts before the criminal court of Vaucluse, in Avignon, the pleadings phase began on Wednesday with the lawyers of the civil parties, that is to say the victims: Gisèle Pelicot, 71 years, his three children, David, Caroline and Florian, his two daughters-in-law, Céline and Aurore, and his grandchildren. “Justice and truth” must be done for this family, argued Mr. Antoine Camus.
Up to 20 years of imprisonment
But, beyond words, these are sentences which will be pronounced, at the end of December, by the five professional magistrates of the court, chaired by President Roger Arata. “In the name of the French people”.
And it is in the name of society that Jean-François Mayet and Laure Chabaud will have to take a position, with the heavy task of individualizing the sentences requested for each of the 51 accused. Mostly prosecuted for aggravated rape, they face a maximum of 20 years of criminal imprisonment.
For Dominique Pelicot, the first to be looked into by the prosecution on Monday, “the conductor” of these rapes, this sentence seems acquired. He himself says he wants prison, accused of having, from July 2011 to October 2020, doused his wife with anxiolytics to rape her and hand her over, unconscious, to dozens of strangers recruited on the internet.
The maximum sentence should also be requested for Jean-Pierre M., 63 years old, alias “Rasmus”, tried for having replicated Dominique Pelicot's procedure on his own wife, to rape her a dozen times, including several times in the company of his mentor. “Disciple” of Pelicot, he is the only one of the 51 accused to never have gone to the home of the Pelicot couple, in Mazan.
Verdict expected December 20 at the latest
Among the 49 other co-defendants, 35 strongly denied having participated in “rape”. Some had, however, responded six times to the husband's invitation. Will the requested sentences be more severe for the ten men who came several times? And how will the two prosecutors differentiate their requisitions for those who come only once? The tone should be set on Monday.
After the Pelicot case, the prosecution announced that it would first discuss the more minor cases, those of Joseph C., 69 years old, and Hugues M., 39 years old, respectively accused of sexual assault and attempted rape . Then it will be these 48 men (including one on the run), all accused of aggravated rape or gang rape.
After the indictment, Wednesday afternoon or Thursday at the latest, the floor will be given to the defense lawyers until December 13. And it is Me Béatrice Zavarro, Dominique Pelicot's lawyer, who will speak first.
