Speaking Monday morning, in a packed courtroom, Advocate General Jean-François Mayet noted a “calendar chance”while the start of the requisitions coincided with the world day against violence against women. Feminist gatherings at the entrance to the Avignon judicial court were there to remind him of this. “Twenty years for each!”calls for a huge banner that has appeared in recent days on the city walls.
This is the maximum penalty incurred for aggravated rape. And the one required against Dominique Pelicot, “the keystone of the whole file”, underlined the vice-prosecutor Laure Chabaud, who returned at length to the personality “structured in a perverse way” of the 71-year-old man, accused of having drugged, raped and had his now ex-wife raped, between July 2011 and October 2020.
In a long introductory statement on Monday, the magistrate recalled the two circumstances aggravating the acts of rape or attempted rape, accused of her co-defendants: the meeting and chemical submission. Only Joseph C., 69, is being prosecuted for sexual assault in a meeting, because no act of penetration was observed in the videos concerning him. The prosecution is demanding four years in prison against him with a committal warrant.
Laure Chabaud spoke again this Wednesday morning, to solemnly call on the Vaucluse criminal court to serve “that ordinary rape does not exist, that accidental or involuntary rape does not exist”, repeating the lines of argument of certain defendants. “Through your verdict, you will deliver a message of hope to all victims of sexual violence and you will restore the part of humanity stolen from Gisèle Pelicot”she continued. And to add: “through your verdict, you will guide us in the education of our sons. Because beyond the sanction, it is through education that change will be driven.”
From the start of this lengthy indictment on Monday, the defendants understood that the sentences requested were going to increase in crescendo. For Didier S., the first case addressed after Joseph C., the ax fell at the beginning of Monday afternoon: “I will ask to sentence him to ten years of criminal imprisonment”says Laure Chabaud, behind her desk. The 68-year-old retiree once came to the Pelicot couple's home and had no criminal record. A hubbub rises in the docks: they realize at this moment that the required sentences will not fall below this threshold.
Ten years are also claimed against Patrick A., 60, who declares himself homosexual and claims to have come to have a sexual relationship with Dominique Pelicot. Yet, “a perfectly explicit Skype conversation” showed that the septuagenarian had confided to him before his arrival that he liked to “fuck” his sleeping wife. He had also given her instructions not to wake her. Same requisitions for Jacques C., Hugues M., Jean-Marc L., Ghabi S., Simone M., Philippe L., Paul G., Ludovick B. and Mathieu D.
Eleven years are requested against Andy R., aged 31 when he went to Mazan on December 31, 2018. This agricultural worker, who declared at the hearing that he had not “nothing else to do” on New Year's Eve, is part of the minority of defendants who admit to aggravated rape. But he was convicted of domestic violence, which clearly motivated the public prosecutor to be more severe towards him. The same sentence is required for Quentin H., 34 years old, a former police officer and prison guard at the time of the facts, who failed in his duty to set an example.
The sentences have increased over the course of the requisitions carried out at a rapid pace, at a rate of a quarter of an hour per accused, sometimes nine or eight minutes, depending on the case. The denials clearly contribute to accentuating the severity of the public prosecutor's office. Thus, Patrice N., a 55-year-old electrician, inaugurates the threshold of twelve years required. The man, very voluble at the hearing, claimed to only remember the digital penetrations on the victim, even though he had nevertheless carried out several penile penetrations on her, without a condom.
Husamettin D., who is in the same quantum of the required sentence, explained that he did not want to touch Gisèle Pelicot when she arrived in the room “because he thought she was dead”reports the deputy prosecutor, indignant. She deplores “confused and contradictory explanations” of this forty-year-old, who persisted in asserting at the hearing “that, in his opinion, the victim was pretending to sleep”.
Twelve years are also claimed against Cyrille D., Redouan E., Boris M., Cyril B., Thierry P., Omar D., Mahdi D., Ahmed T., Redouane A., Lionel R, and Jean T. The latter affirmed throughout the procedure, and during the hearing, “no longer remember anything”recalls Jean-François Mayet. The 52-year-old accused believes he was drugged by a glass of coke that Dominique Pelicot allegedly offered, which the septuagenarian denies. However, on the videos, Jean T. acts “in a conscious, non-mechanical way, and demonstrates what looks like a gesture of satisfaction by raising a thumb towards the camera”relates the attorney general.
“What substance has the capacity to make someone commit acts against their will while still allowing them to have sexual intercourse?”ironically questions Laure Chabaud, while several other accused claim to be convinced, like him, of having been chemically subjected by Dominique Pelicot. In general, she deplores the fact that many of them have endorsed “the ill-fitting suit of the accused victim”when they claimed to have been manipulated, or even “tetanized”by Dominique Pelicot.
Thirteen years were required against six defendants, apparently in view of their criminal record. This is the case of Nizar H., who was convicted of domestic violence against the mother of his son in 2015, and of his ex-partner in 2018. The same is true for Adrien L., already convicted of acts of violence and rape against former girlfriends.
Among them, we can also cite Florian R., delivery driver, and Cyprien C., unemployed at the time of the facts, who both have nine entries in their respective records. For the first, aged 32, it concerns driving without a license, theft in meetings and possession of drugs. For the second, who is 44 years old, these are mainly traffic offenses but also property damage.
Tuesday noon, a milestone was reached in an increasingly feverish courtroom: fourteen years were requested against six men, four of whom were being prosecuted for possession of child pornography content. The most notable case is undoubtedly that of Thierry P., in whom investigators found no less than 656 photos and 419 videos of this type. The 61-year-old accused had also interacted with a man who proposed to his own daughter, to whom “he responded favorably, in particularly crude and abject terms”underlines the Advocate General.
Tuesday afternoon the sentences mount, and so does the tension. Fifteen years are requested against three men, including Hassan O. (on the run), and Joan K., 27 years old, the youngest of the accused, prosecuted for having gone to Mazan twice, in 2019 and 2020 This former soldier said during his first hearings. “that he had been welcomed by Gisèle Pelicot, awake”. “Its fluctuating positioning”, is singled out by the general advocate. Just like that of Vincent C., also prosecuted for two series of facts.
Unsurprisingly, the four accused who came six times to the home of the Pelicot couple are not spared: the public prosecutor is demanding 16 to 18 years of criminal imprisonment against them. Among them is Charly A., who went to Mazan for the first time in January 2016, when he was only 21 years old. Detained since February 2021 in connection with this case, this accused “very unstable educational context” appeared particularly withdrawn during his interrogation, sometimes responding with only one or two words.
Likewise, Romain V., 63, returned in tears to the stand about his atrocious childhood, tinged with physical violence and humiliation from his parents, as well as repeated sexual violence from a priest. But, notably because of “his trivializing speech, without seeking the reasons for his behavior”the attorney general requires 18 years of imprisonment against him.
Finally, for Cédric G. and Jean-Pierre M. who could be perceived as disciples of Dominique Pelicot, the public prosecutor requested sixteen and seventeen years of imprisonment respectively. The first considered for a long time chemically subjugating one of his ex-partners, before retracting. The second, a separate case in this trial, is not prosecuted for rape of Gisèle Pelicot but of his own sleeping wife, on several occasions, with the participation of Dominique Pelicot.
If these requisitions are followed by the five professional magistrates of the Vaucluse criminal court, all of the accused should go to prison the same day of the verdict, expected around December 20, since the attorneys general have systematically requested a committal warrant. . “I consider that these are totally disproportionate requisitions”said Louis-Alain Lemaire to the press, who represents four accused. He is one of the rare lawyers who agreed to react.
Likewise, his colleague Patrick Gontard, who defends Jean-Pierre M., says “hallucinate” before this indictment. “Extraordinary trials, extraordinary requisitions!”he says to the press. More measured, Emile-Henri Biscarrat recalls that two and a half weeks of defense pleadings begin this Wednesday which will be “the opportunity to recall the ardent requirement that the court must have to individualize the sentences”.
Defense lawyers also deplore a “undermining the presumption of innocence” of their client, while the names of several accused are displayed in the streets of Avignon, via feminist collages. According to Guillaume de Palma, certain messages are similar to “calls for hatred”. It is in this very tense climate that Béatrice Zavarro will plead from 2 p.m. for Dominique Pelicot. Irony of the calendar, once again: the man is celebrating his 72nd birthday today.
