“But when did they not hit?”
“I heard: ‘I was on remote control’, I heard: ‘I drank a glass of water, I was drugged’. But at what point did they not strike?” protested the septuagenarian, who has become a feminist icon since the start of this raging trial on September 2, before the Vaucluse criminal court in Avignon (south). “There are few who take responsibility for their actions. They raped! I hear this gentleman saying “a finger is not rape”. Let him wonder!” she snapped.
The last of the 51 accused to take the stand Tuesday morning, just before Gisèle Pelicot took the floor, Philippe L., 62, had adopted this same line of defense, explaining that he was “under the orders” of Dominique Pelicot, a “demon”, and who he then believed to be participating in the scenario of a libertine couple where the woman pretended to be sleeping.
“I don’t think anymore”
“I don’t think anymore. (…) I don’t know that I am doing something unhealthy. I will know later,” explained this single man who makes his living from gardening work. “I don’t know that I’m dealing with a demon, an evil being. It was only after…” he tried to justify, pointing to Dominique Pelicot. Prosecuted for “aggravated rape”, he faces, like most of the 51 accused, 20 years of criminal imprisonment.
Questioned by several defense lawyers, Gisèle Pelicot once again firmly defended herself from having been “under the influence” or “manipulated” by her husband, during their 50 years of life together: “Absolutely nothing put me the flea in your ear!”, she repeated. “Monsieur Pelicot had many fantasies, all of which I could not satisfy with him. (…) As I didn’t want to go to a swingers club, he said he found the solution by putting me to sleep! I lost 10 years of my life that I will never get back. Never! This scar will never heal!” she blurted, barely holding back her anger.
Final phase from Wednesday
With the interrogation of Philippe L. on Tuesday, this so-called “Mazan rape” trial, emblematic of sexual violence and chemical submission, has now finished examining the cases of 51 men, aged 26 to 74. Ten had returned several times, at the invitation of Dominique Pelicot, up to six times for some. Few of these accused presented a real apology to Gisèle Pelicot, even after being confronted with videos of their actions, projected in court, staggering images in which their victim appears totally inert.
Unanimously described as “the conductor” in this case, Dominique Pelicot, 71, was the first to testify, at the beginning of September, without really explaining the reasons for this drift which had accelerated over the years, with some 200 rapes in total, half by himself. He is expected to speak for the last time on the facts Tuesday afternoon.
The trial will then enter its final phase from Wednesday, with the start of the civil parties’ pleadings, before probably being suspended until Monday to allow the prosecution to prepare its requisitions, which would extend over three days. Then the defense pleadings will begin, for three weeks. There will then be one week left for the court’s five professional magistrates to deliberate, with a verdict expected on December 20 at the latest.
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