This is the home stretch of this historic trial. The Vaucluse criminal court retired mid-morning this Monday, December 16 to deliberate and judge the 51 accused men in the Mazan rape trial.
For their last speech, only around ten accused, including Dominique Pelicot, took the opportunity to apologize to the victim principal, Gisèle, before the verdict expected on Thursday. The first voice to rise from boxing is the tired voice of Dominique Pelicot.
“I would like to start by salute the courage of my ex-wife“, he said, before attacking those in the room who had the nerve to continue to imply that Gisèle could have been an accomplice. Insults flew out, whispered in the benches of the other accused. Many shot Dominique Pelicot look.
Only 9 out of 50 accused to apologize
Gisèle does not take her eyes off him, without emotion when he asks her for forgiveness. “I would like to tell all my family that I love them”he continues. The other accused prefer not to add anything to the microphone. Only nine out of fifty have had a word for the victim.
Tension and anxiety rise in the court. Maître Christophe Huguenin defends the youngest of the accused, who is only 30 years old, against whom the prosecution requested 16 years in prison. The wait for the verdict will be long: “Hours become days, days become weeks. And it’s extremely complicated to put yourself in his place and in his skin. Half of his life will be at stake on Thursday.“The judges are now holed up in the deliberations room for at least three days. The verdict expected on Thursday.
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