“Serenity of debates”
In a press release published on Friday, September 6, the complainant, raped by strangers recruited by her husband, had requested the closure of the kitty opened in her name on social networks.
In France and abroad, in traditional media as well as on social networks, the trial of the Mazan rapes – a woman who was raped by strangers recruited on the internet by her husband and also raped by her husband himself – has caused considerable emotion. So much so that the former reality TV star Nabilla Benattia had opened an online kitty, intended to “contribute to legal costs [de la victime] and to help him through this terrible ordeal” Launched on Thursday evening, the kitty was already approaching 40,000 euros on Friday morning, September 6.
But the plaintiff, Gisèle Pelicot, has made it known that she does not want any of this money. Through her lawyers, the 71-year-old woman demanded in the morning that the kitty opened in her name be closed and “the greatest moderation on social networks». «Mrs. Gisèle Pelicot and her family thank all the people who have sent massive messages of support from all over the world since the start of the trial.“, declared their lawyers Stéphane Babonneau and Antoine Camus, in a press release.
«However, our client absolutely wishes to preserve the dignity and serenity of the debates currently taking place. […] She is therefore calling today for the greatest moderation on social networks, does not want any online support kitty to be opened and is asking for those already open to be closed.“, they write.
A request that was heard. Gisèle Pelicot “does not wish to accept the prize pool at this time and does not want to disrupt the ongoing trial. We respect his decision and are closing it immediately. Each donor will be refunded in full and without fees. We wish him much courage in this ordeal and send him all our love“, reacted Nabilla Benattia on the social network X, this Friday late morning.
Public trial
Since its opening on Monday before the criminal court of Avignon, this extraordinary trial, with 51 accused – the husband and 50 other men aged 26 to 74 – prosecuted for having raped Gisèle Pelicot, from July 2011 to October 2020, after she had been drugged with anxiolytics by her husband, has also attracted the interest of the international press.
The public’s interest is all the greater because the victim herself wished on Monday that the trial not be held behind closed doors, in order to draw attention to the phenomenon of chemical submission and that “Shame changes sides».
Update : at 11:42, with the addition of the decision to close the kitty announced by Nabila.
