After demanding on Monday the maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment against Dominique Pelicot and severe sanctions against 20 of his co-defendants, the prosecution continued its submissions on Tuesday morning at the Mazan rape trial. She asked for between 12 and 14 years in prison each time.
In one hour, in a tone without emphasis, the attorney general Jean-François Mayet summarized the facts alleged against eight of the last 30 accused. The issue of this trial is nothing less than “fundamentally changing the relationships between men and women”, he said on Monday.
For each of them, the representative of the prosecution asked the Vaucluse criminal court to impose sentences of 12 years of criminal imprisonment when it delivers its verdict, on December 20 at the latest.
At this rate, the indictment could be completed by the end of the day on Tuesday. This would pave the way for the pleading on Wednesday, probably in the afternoon, of Béatrice Zavarro, the lawyer of Dominique Pelicot, the “conductor” of this extraordinary affair, symbol of violence against women and chemical submission.
Sentences of 12 to 14 years required against co-defendants
Tuesday morning, Jean-François Mayet started with the case of Boris M., 37 years old. “He told us at the hearing that he had been lobotomized,” recalled the magistrate. “He says he was a victim, like Madame Pelicot, of Dominique Pelicot. In reality, he was content with the situation as presented by Dominique Pelicot, (…), at no time did he request or obtain the consent of Ms. Pelicot with regard to her condition.”
The same sentence of 12 years' imprisonment was then requested by Jean-François Mayet against seven other co-defendants.
Against Cyril B., 47 years old, who “was well aware that Madame Pelicot should not be woken up”. Against Thierry Pa., 54 years old, according to whom Dominique Pelicot is the “solely responsible” for the facts. Against Omar D., 36 years old, for whom “the agreement and the presence of the husband appeared to be sufficient”. Against Jean T., 52 years old, of whom “there is nothing to prove that he was drugged” himself, as he had claimed. Against Mahdi D., 36 years old, who says he is a “victim of the actions of Dominique Pelicot”. Against Ahmed T., 54, who “rejects any responsibility for the facts”. And finally against Redouane A., 40 years old, who came to Mazan twice, to “please the couple”, ironically recalled the attorney general.
The second representative of the prosecution, Laure Chabaud, then took over. She requested 12 years in prison against Lionel R., 44, who said he was participating in “part of a couple’s fantasy”. 13 years against Florian R., 32 years old, who did not recognize “the intentional element of the offense”, then Grégory S., 31 years old, who while being “aware of the state altered by Gisèle Pelicot” had continued until his ejaculation. Finally, against Karim S., 38 years old, “one of the rare accused whose Skype exchanges (with Dominique Pelicot) were discovered”, the magistrate requested 14 years of imprisonment.
“In 2024, we can no longer say since she didn't say anything, she agreed “It’s from another age,” the magistrate insisted on Monday.
Fifty men tried
This second day of indictment began, like Monday, in the presence of Gisèle Pelicot, sitting alone on the civil parties' bench, and her ex-husband, 71 years old, head down in the accused box.
Against him, the public prosecutor had requested the maximum sentence of 20 years of criminal imprisonment Monday morning, at the opening of his indictment. Seventeen years in prison were then requested against Jean-Pierre M., 63, who had reproduced the same procedure on his own wife. In the afternoon, sentences of 4 to 13 years in prison were requested against the first 19 co-defendants, prosecuted for “sexual offense” or aggravated rape.
For 10 years, from July 2011 to October 2020, Dominique Pelicot had hit his wife with anxiolytics to rape her and have her raped by dozens of men recruited on the Internet, via the site coco.fr, now banned. Fifty of them, now aged 26 to 74, have been identified and have therefore been on trial since September 2.
