“The challenge” of the Mazan rape trial is to “fundamentally change the relationships between men and women,” said the attorney general, Jean-François Mayet, on Monday at the opening of his indictment before the Vaucluse criminal court.
“This trial shakes up our society in our relationship with others, in the most intimate relationships between human beings. To make our needs, our emotions, our desires understood and above all to take into account those of the other,” said declared the first of the two representatives of the prosecution to speak: the issue “is not a conviction or an acquittal”.
Mr. Mayet also noted the “extraordinary” nature of this trial “in view of the unimaginable seriousness of the facts alleged against 51 defendants at the same time”.
Coincidentally with the calendar, the prosecution therefore began its speech in Avignon on the occasion of the international day against violence against women. “The indictment on this very special day is yet another symbol,” commented Me Antoine Camus, one of the two lawyers for the civil parties.
One thing is certain: the sentences that the representatives of the public prosecutor's office, Jean-François Mayet and Laure Chabaud, will demand will be closely scrutinized, as the main victim, Gisèle Pelicot, 71, has achieved the status of feminist icon after having refused to accept the trial takes place behind closed doors, “so that the shame changes sides”.
– “A lesson to the world” –
Covered almost worldwide, with 138 accredited media including 57 foreigners, this trial has an impact well beyond French borders. As the president of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies, Karol Cariola, testified again on Thursday, saluting the “courage and dignity” of Gisèle Pelicot, “an ordinary citizen who gave a lesson to the whole world”.
“It’s a lot of emotion,” said Ms. Pelicot upon entering the courtroom. For this strong moment, facing her ex-husband who had become her executioner, she was alone, accompanied by her two lawyers and her legal assistant. None of the couple's three children were there.
After the introduction of Jean-François Mayet, the relay was taken by his colleague Laure Chabaud, to look into the case of the “conductor” of this decade of rapes. Dominique Pelicot, common denominator of the 50 co-accused 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.
It's hard to imagine that they are not demanding the maximum sentence against him, 20 years of criminal imprisonment.
Dominique Pelicot has never hidden his responsibility, calling himself a “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 20 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.
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? Were they “manipulated” by Dominique Pelicot?
Or was their discernment impaired at the time of the events, as the lawyers for 33 of them suggested again 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 “rape”, despite the damning videos filmed by Dominique Pelicot?
“There needs to be nuance in the sentences, we can only understand that by following the trial,” Brigitte Jossien, 74, a retired store manager, testified to AFP on Monday morning, arriving at 5:45 a.m. morning Monday, from a town neighboring Avignon, to attend the trial. With her friend Bernadette Teyssonnière, 69, retired, who worked in the pharmaceutical industry, they attended almost all the hearings.
– “20 years for each” –
But they don't believe that this trial will change things much: “Unfortunately, many men see this as a sordid news story, but no more”, lamented Bernadette: “It's sex education in schools that will change things.”
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: “20 years for everyone”, they asked.
According to the official schedule, the indictment is scheduled for three days. But according to information collected from the various parties by AFP, it could end late Wednesday morning.
After the indictment, Wednesday afternoon or Thursday at the latest, the defense lawyers will have the floor. Dominique Pelicot's lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, will open the ball. 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.
