twenty years of criminal imprisonment required against Dominique Pelicot

After eleven weeks of hearings, the prosecution requested on Monday, November 25, twenty years of criminal imprisonment, the maximum sentence, against Dominique Pelicot, for having drugged, raped and had his wife raped for ten years, “despicable actions”. This extraordinary trial entered its home stretch on Monday in Avignon. Coincidentally, the start of the indictment, which could last three days, begins on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. “The indictment on this very special day is one more symbol”assured Antoine Camus, one of the lawyers for the civil parties, Monday morning.

The Mazan rape trial, named after the village where the couple lived and where the vast majority of events took place, “is shaking up our society in our relationship with others”commented at the opening of the indictment the first of the two representatives of the public prosecutor, Jean-François Mayet. The issue, according to him, “is not a conviction or acquittal”more “to fundamentally change the relationships between men and women”. Gisèle Pelicot, 71, achieved the status of feminist icon after refusing to allow the trial to take place behind closed doors, in order to “let shame change sides”. “It’s a lot of emotion”she said as she entered the courtroom.

Before the professional magistrates making up the court and after the introduction of Mr. Mayet, the relay was taken by his colleague, Laure Chabaud, to raise the case of “conductor” of this decade of rape. Dominique Pelicot, common denominator of the 50 co-defendants recruited on the Internet, to whom he had delivered his now ex-wife, previously sedated with anxiolytics, to their marital home in Mazan between July 2011 and October 2020.

Dominique Pelicot has never hidden his responsibility, calling himself “rapist”. “I am guilty of what I did (…). I ruined everything, I lost everything. I have to pay”he said shortly after the start of the trial. But what sentences will the public prosecutor seek against his 50 co-defendants? Because, even if most are prosecuted for the same facts, namely aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot, and therefore also risk twenty years in prison, the individualization of sentences is obligatory. For example, to distinguish repeat offenders – ten men came several times – from those who came only once to Mazan.

“Twenty years for everyone”, demand the feminist collectives

Could these men, aged 26 to 74, legitimately believe that they were participating in the scenario of a libertine couple, where the wife would pretend to be sleeping? Have they been “manipulated” by Dominique Pelicot? Or was their discernment impaired at the time of the events, as the lawyers for 33 of them further suggested on Wednesday? Finally, will the prosecution have a heavier hand towards the 35 accused who, at the opening of the trial, still firmly denied having participated in a « viol », despite the damning videos filmed by Dominique Pelicot? For the feminist collectives who put up a banner on Sunday evening on the ramparts in front of the court, the request was very clear: “Twenty years for everyone”they asked.

According to the official schedule, the indictment must take place over three days. But according to information collected from the various parties by Agence France-Presse, it could end late Wednesday morning. After the Pelicot case, the prosecution should advance crescendo, with first the less serious cases, those of Joseph C., 69 years old, and Hugues M., 39 years old, respectively accused of sexual assault and attempted rape, before tackling the 48 others (one of whom is on the run).

Covered almost worldwide, with 138 accredited media, including 57 foreigners, this trial resonates well beyond French borders. As the President of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies, Karol Cariola, testified again on Thursday, welcoming “courage and dignity” by M^me Pelicot, “an ordinary citizen who taught the whole world a lesson”. And over the course of this weekend, tens of thousands of people – many women, but also men – marched across France to demand a “startle” against violence against women, many referring to this extraordinary trial.

After the indictment, Wednesday afternoon or Thursday at the latest, the floor will be given to the defense lawyers. Dominique Pelicot's lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, will be the first to speak. Then his colleagues will follow one another, until December 13. The court will then have a week to deliberate, with a verdict expected on December 20 at the latest.