After having demanded on Monday the maximum sentence of 20 years of imprisonment against Dominique Pelicot and severe sanctions against 20 of his co-defendants, the prosecution continued its requisitions on Tuesday morning at the Mazan rape trial, each time demanding between 12 and 14 years in prison.
In one hour, in a tone without emphasis, the attorney general Jean-François Mayet summarized the facts alleged against eight of the last 30 accused in this trial, the issue of which, he estimated on Monday, is nothing less than “fundamentally change the relationships between men and women”.
For each of them, the representative of the prosecution asked the Vaucluse criminal court to impose sentences of 12 years of criminal imprisonment when it delivers its verdict, on December 20 at the latest.
At this rate, the indictment could be completed by the end of the day on Tuesday, paving the way for the pleading on Wednesday, probably in the afternoon, of Béatrice Zavarro, the lawyer of Dominique Pelicot, the “conductor ” of this extraordinary affair, a symbol of violence against women and chemical submission.
Tuesday morning, Jean-François Mayet began with the case of Boris M., 37 years old, who came to the Pelicot home in Mazan (Vaucluse) on the night of January 26, 2020. Like the other co-defendants, he had responded to the invitation of the husband, who drugged his wife Gisèle and handed her over to dozens of strangers. But the question is whether he knew she was asleep without his knowledge.
“He told us at the hearing that he had been lobotomized,” recalled the magistrate. “He says he was a victim, like Ms. Pelicot, of Dominique Pelicot. In reality, he was content with the situation as presented by Dominique Pelicot, (…), at no time did he request or obtain the consent of Ms Pelicot in view of her condition”.
The same sentence of 12 years' imprisonment was then requested by Jean-François Mayet against seven other co-defendants.
Against Cyril B., 47 years old, who “was well aware that Madame Pelicot should not be woken up”. Against Thierry Pa., 54 years old, according to whom Dominique Pelicot is the “solely responsible” for the facts. Against Omar D., 36 years old, for whom “the agreement and the presence of the husband appeared to be sufficient”. Against Jean T., 52 years old, of whom “there is nothing to prove that he was drugged” himself, as he had claimed. Against Mahdi D., 36 years old, who says he is a “victim of the actions of Dominique Pelicot”. Against Ahmed T., 54, who “rejects any responsibility for the facts”. And against Redouane A., 40 years old, who came to Mazan twice, to “please the couple”, ironically recalled the attorney general.
– “Lack of recognition of the facts” –
The second representative of the prosecution, Laure Chabaud, then took over, again demanding 12 years of imprisonment against Lionel R., 44, who said he was participating in “part of a couple's fantasy”.
She then requested 13 years in prison against Florian R., 32 years old, who did not recognize “the intentional element of the offense”, then Grégory S., 31 years old, who while having “awareness of Gisèle Pelicot's altered state” continued until her ejaculation.
Finally, against Karim S., 38 years old, “one of the rare accused whose Skype exchanges (with Dominique Pelicot) were discovered”, the magistrate requested 14 years' imprisonment.
“In 2024, we can no longer say 'since she didn't say anything, she agreed', it's from another age,” the magistrate insisted on Monday.
This second day of indictment began, like Monday, in the presence of Gisèle Pelicot, sitting alone on the civil parties' bench, and her ex-husband, 71 years old, head down in the accused box.
Against him, the public prosecutor had requested the maximum sentence of 20 years of criminal imprisonment Monday morning, at the opening of his indictment. Seventeen years in prison were then requested against Jean-Pierre M., 63, who had reproduced the same procedure on his own wife.
In the afternoon, sentences of 4 to 13 years in prison were requested against the first 19 co-defendants, prosecuted for “sexual assault” or aggravated rape.
For 10 years, from July 2011 to October 2020, Dominique Pelicot had hit his wife with anxiolytics to rape her and have her raped by dozens of men recruited on the internet, via the site coco.fr, now banned.
Fifty of them, now aged 26 to 74, have been identified and have therefore been on trial since September 2. Eighteen of these accused, including Dominique Pelicot, appear detained. Thirty-two others appear free, the last, on the run, being tried in absentia.
