The 51 accused in the Mazan rape trial were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms deemed insufficient by feminist activists. Dominique Pélicot received the maximum sentence. Gisèle Pélicot reacted to the verdict and is preparing for a new trial.
A highly anticipated verdict, but far from satisfying everyone. Dominique Pélicot and the 50 other accused in the Mazan rape trial were all found guilty of aggravated rape or sexual assault for one of them, on Thursday, December 19. The main accused tried for having drugged, raped and delivered his ex-wife to strangers was sentenced to 20 years of criminal imprisonment accompanied by a security period of two thirds, or approximately 14 years, by the criminal court of Vaucluse. This is the heaviest sentence, but also the only one to follow the requisitions handed down by the prosecution. All the other defendants received sentences lower than those requested: they ranged from 3 years in prison, 2 of which were suspended, to 15 years in prison, while the requisitions provided for sentences ranging from 10 to 18 years in prison. , with one exception for the accused tried for sexual assault against whom 4 years of imprisonment had been requested.
Sentences deemed “too low” by the children of Dominique and Gisèle Pélicot and largely insufficient in the eyes of feminist activists who came to support Gisèle Pélicot and attend the verdict of the Mazan rape trial. “Shame on justice,” chanted the crowd in front of the Avignon courthouse. Conversely, the defense lawyers welcomed the sentences handed down which they consider more appropriate in relation to the “exaggerated demands” which had been made.
If the sentences aroused great anger and much disappointment among feminist activists, it was also the fact that six accused emerged free from the Mazan trial which aroused the feeling of injustice. These six defendants were able to be released because the years of pretrial detention served before the end of the trial covered the sentence handed down, or because they were sentenced to less than 2 years in prison. The 44 other accused, in addition to Dominique Pélicot, will all go to prison. Most of the culprits returned to their cells on Thursday, December 19 for those already incarcerated or subject to a committal warrant, but three of them will be imprisoned within 4 months for health reasons.
Gisèle Pélicot's reaction to the convictions
This verdict, whatever it may be, puts an end to the long trial of the Mazan rapes which lasted three and a half months, and at the same time to the “very difficult ordeal” overcome by Gisèle Pélicot. The main victim of this affair, who has become an icon in the fight against sexual violence, reacted briefly at the end of the trial, thanking the support she received and from which she drew “the strength to come back every day to face these long days of hearings” in this “very difficult ordeal”. As for the sentences, she refrained from any comment: “I respect the court and the verdict.”
No sentence will be sufficient to compensate for the violence suffered by Gisèle Pélicot and “no sentence will make her life destroyed”, declared one of her lawyers, Me Antoine Camus on Friday December 20 on franceinfo. However, the septuagenarian “understands that the Court made an effort to individualize the sentences. She also understands that there must have been a differential between her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot and all the others”, explained the lawyer.
A new trial of the Mazan rapes
The first instance trial of the Mazan rapes ended after almost four months of hearings, the 51 accused, including Dominique Pélicot, like the prosecution have 10 days to appeal the verdict. The main accused and his lawyer, Me Béatrice Zavarro, indicated that they would take advantage of this delay to make a decision which they will make public on December 29. The prosecution, potentially disappointed with the sentences handed down, could decide to appeal. As for the accused, two of them have already announced an appeal, which will inevitably lead to a new trial. This will be held before an assize court composed of a popular juror, while the first trial took place before a criminal court and a juror made up of professional magistrates. A difference which could change the verdict, magistrates being less likely to be influenced by personal considerations and able to approach such a rape case with more distance.
Gisèle Pélicot is ready and “would like to get involved” in this appeal trial, announced her lawyer Me Antoine Camus on franceinfo : “Maybe not as intensively as has been the case over the last four months, but of course she will want to be there.” But such a trial will not take place for several months and until then Gisèle Pélicot “yearns for a little rest and then perhaps regains, for at least a few weeks, a little bit of anonymity”.
Latest updates
13:21 – David, the son of Gisèle Pelicot, speaks
“Dominique Pelicot took the maximum sentence, I am satisfied with it,” said David Pelicot on RTL, adding that he is “disappointed” with some of the other sentences. For him, his father “no longer exists”. “He will remain my (biological) father, but he no longer exists, I have erased this man from my memory,” he said. About his last name, “David Pelicot is the eldest son of Dominique Pelicot but also of Gisèle Pelicot. It makes sense to keep this name, I have no shame,” he said. defended.
According to him, the trial “will be remembered” and must “be a testament for future generations”. “I appeal to Emmanuel Macron and François Bayrou: we are counting on them so that they can continue the work to fight against chemical submission,” he said.
12:33 – Two defendants appeal the Mazan rape trial
Of the 51 accused, at least two are appealing the verdict at the Mazan rape trial. The two men are represented by the same lawyer, Me Isabelle Crepin-Dehaene, and were sentenced to 8 years in prison for having raped Gisèle Pélicot while she was unconscious. The lawyer announced her clients' decisions only a few hours after the verdict was delivered.
11:20 – “No sentence will make his life destroyed” to Gisèle Pélicot
Gisèle Pélicot did not comment on the convictions handed down in the Mazan rape trial when she spoke yesterday. This Friday, one of her lawyers, Me Antoine Camus, clarified the state of mind of the septuagenarian on franceinfo. “No sentence will restore her destroyed life”, he declared, conceding the insufficient aspect of the sentences handed down, but he assured that his client “understands that the Court has made an effort to individualize the sentences” . “She also understands that there must have been a difference between her ex-husband Dominique Pélicot and all the others,” he added.
Learn more
Suspicions of incest, accused on the run, these points which remain unanswered
However, certain gray areas persist in this matter. First of all, the affair of the photos of Pélicot's daughter in underwear has not been resolved. During his interrogation, Dominique Pélicot denied having taken his photos and having abused his daughter Caroline Darian. The latter wondered if her father had not used the same process as with her mother by drugging her, ensuring that she never slept in the position seen in the photo, or even if he had not not also taken to her physically. This question could remain, for the moment, unanswered. Photos of Dominique Pélicot’s daughters-in-law were also found in the latter’s files.
Concerning the other co-accused, one of them is missing. Hassan O., 30, could not be arrested as he is now in Morocco. An arrest warrant was then issued against him, “tantamount to indictment” for aggravated rape. He was identified on one of the videos on Dominique Pélicot's computer. Despite his absence from the trial, the accused risks a conviction in absentia. It is also a question of whether all the men who attacked Gisèle Pélicot were identified and therefore brought to justice, as Libération raises.
