On the third day of the trial of the abuse of Gisèle Pélicot, orchestrated by her husband, the lawyers of several of the 51 accused refuted this description of rapists for their clients, accusing the investigators of a misleading generalization.
Libertine scenario or deliberate rape? This Wednesday, the third day of the trial of the abuse of Gisèle Pélicot, was initially devoted to the deposition of the head of investigation, Divisional Commissioner Jérémie Bosse Platière, who came to explain how the police, thanks to the telephone contacts kept by the husband, his online conversations with the men he recruited on the internet, and facial recognition software, managed to identify around fifty of the 72 suspects sought. But the police officer then faced accusations from several lawyers, outraged to see their clients, most of whom appeared free (Editor’s note: 32 out of 50, the 51st is on the run), being lumped together with repeat offenders.
200 rapes in total
Of the 50 co-accused recruited by Dominique P., now 71, to come and abuse his wife, between July 2011 and October 2020, ten had returned several times, up to six times for some. For 200 rapes in total, according to the investigators’ estimate, including 92 by these men recruited by the husband.
“Is the idea of the game feasible?”insisted Nadia El Bouroumi, counsel for two accused.
“In libertine practices, the collection of consent is systematic”the policeman replied.
For several lawyers, their client would have been «berner» by the main accused, the husband, “conductor”who would have presented them with a “libertine game” where madame would pretend to be asleep.
“The problem is obtaining consent: at what point did Mrs. P. show her approval of the act? At no point.”Jérémie Bosse Platière repeated to them.
The victim “prepared” and naked on the bed
To prove his statements, the investigator recalled the process, according to him systematic, used by Dominique P. to recruit these dozens of strangers online: after an initial contact on the dating site Coco.fr, the discussion switched to Skype, before telephone exchanges. Then the instructions were the same each time: park away from the couple’s home, so as not to arouse the suspicions of the neighbors; wait outside, “sometimes up to an hour”so that the sleeping pills take effect; enter through the kitchen, without noise; and finally abuse the victim, already “prepared” and naked on the marital bed.
Of the approximately 4,000 files, photos and videos, meticulously listed on a hard drive by the husband and used by the four investigators dedicated to this case, the main victim never appears. “conscious” and does not show the slightest “gesture”the police officer stressed.
“I don’t remember a single word.”
“I don’t remember a single word, sometimes you hear moans, snoring, but no understandable words.” is not audible, insisted Jérémie Bosse Platière, emphasizing the qualification of «viol»a term which also appeared in several online discussions between Dominique P. and the potential attackers. “You’re like me, you like rape mode”the husband had said to one of his interlocutors. But “For rape, there must be intent”retorted Ms. El Bouroumi.
“Let’s talk about the sex scene please”then solemnly asked the police officer the president of the criminal court of Vaucluse, Roger Arata, recalling that until their conviction, the accused were presumed innocent. A speech welcomed by several accused and their counsel.
Several defense lawyers followed suit, questioning the victim’s true state of unconsciousness and expressing surprise that Gisèle P. had no suspicions for ten years. “How can we say with such certainty that she was truly unconscious?”asked Isabelle Crepin-Dehaene. “Either she’s a very good actress or she was really unconscious”replied the commissioner, repeating that at no time was any prior contact made by these men with the victim.
“Stop generalizing!”replied Mr. El Bouroumi. “You draw conclusions because it is a repetition of the facts”she accused: “Is it the multitude of individuals that makes you call them rapists? If they had been alone, could we have had doubts about their real intentionality?” “The individual elements of your client could have suggested that these were indeed criminal acts.”the policeman replied soberly.
After the director of the investigation on Wednesday, the victim will be given the floor for the first time on Thursday morning, in what should be one of the most powerful moments of this extraordinary trial.
