A banner was displayed near the Avignon court on the night of Sunday November 24 to Monday November 25, while the requisitions against the 51 accused in the Mazan rape trial, including Dominique Pelicot, are due to begin.
They call on the attorneys general to demand the maximum sentence for the accused in the Mazan rape trial. During the night from Sunday to Monday, and a few hours before the start of the prosecution's indictments, a feminist collective deployed a banner near the Avignon court (Vaucluse) reading “20 years for everyone”.
In this extraordinary trial, the indictments are expected to last several days and could continue until Wednesday. They will start this Monday morning with Dominique Pélicot, the ex-husband of Gisèle Pélicot.
The septuagenarian is accused of having drugged her between 2011 and 2020 to rape her and have her raped by dozens of men recruited on the internet. He faces up to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape.
Mandatory individualization of sentences
Theoretically, most of the 50 other defendants, also prosecuted for aggravated rape, also risk up to 20 years in prison. But the individualization of sentences being obligatory, the attorneys general should take into account several elements for each of them, such as their positioning in relation to the facts or their criminal record.
The prosecution should also distinguish repeat offenders, that is to say those who have come several times to the home of Dominique and Gisèle Pélicot, as is the case for around ten men appearing before the Avignon criminal court. , of those who only came to Mazan once.
By chance of the calendar, the indictments begin on November 25, the date of the international day against violence against women. Ahead of this event, more than 400 organizations and unions had called for demonstrations this weekend. A call heard by at least several tens of thousands of people, with the organizers claiming 100,000 participants.
