The day of Monday, December 16, in this last week of the Mazan trial, begins with applause from the courtroom to welcome Gisèle Pelicot, accompanied by one of her lawyers, Stéphane Babonneau. She takes her usual place in the heart of a packed room. All the accused are present as well as their families. The climate is mixed with tension and emotion. The defense lawyers are talking among themselves, standing, and seem to be calm. The accused, jaws clenched, gazes downcast, are mostly tense. 32 appear free, the others wait in the box.
It is the president of the court, Roger Arrata, who opens this hearing and gives the floor to the accused. Unsurprisingly, Dominique Pelicot speaks first. His first words are for his ex-wife whose courage he salutes. The septuagenarian, dressed in his usual gray tracksuit jacket, apologizes to his wife, but also to the rest of his family and to the wife of Jean-Pierre Maréchal, whom he also raped. He thanks the court, his lawyer Me Béatrice Zavarro for his humanity and the prison officers for their good treatment. We feel a strong emotion within him as he pronounces these last words. “I will never be able to pay my debt to my family”he adds, announcing that he will continue to write texts and poems in prison. And to conclude, looking at those who were one day his: “I would like to tell all my family that I love them. »
Apologies, remorse and some hope
The president then calls the accused one by one. Those who appear free take turns at the stand, behind the microphone. The others speak from the box. Most thank the president and the court as well as the bailiff for their “humanity” and their ” kindness “. Some say more than others. This is the case of Jacques C., who underlines the courage of the defense lawyers in this case.
“I’m not a rapist, thank you”
Husamettin D. comes to the stand and says: “I’m not a rapist, thank you”. Redouan E., he raised his hand first to speak at the opening of the hearing. He came with his notes and wanted to provide details about Dominique Pelicot. He says he worked a lot on the case and tries to present on the stand the disturbing elements he says he found. He mentions Pelicot's change in behavior since 2010 and his problems with over-indebtedness. His lawyer tries to interrupt him, in vain. Roger Arata ends up cutting him off sharply, but the man doesn't give up and says “wanting to defend yourself in a hot trial where there are 50 trials going on at the same time”. He denounces “the dictatorship of the image as a master means of manipulation”. The man thus refers to the videos broadcast during the trial where, he says, we see Gisèle Pelicot move a total of seven times. “She is not in a coma but in a state of light sedation”he blurted out, visibly determined to go to the end. The civil party gets annoyed. He admits that she is indeed a victim, but emphasizes her total lack of emotions in the face of the facts she suffered. “We wanted to stun people so that they wouldn’t think anymore”he concluded, moved.
Jérôme V., who has visited Mazan six times, takes his turn to speak. He announces that he will not appeal his sentence, out of respect for the victim. Then, he speaks words to the attention of society: “I understand that you are outraged but this wave of hatred is difficult to understand”he points out. He also describes his disgust and his pity for Dominique Pelicot and denounces the lack of financial resources of the justice system which “parks the detainees without considering them”. Gisèle Pelicot listens attentively. He says he doesn't want to apologize to her because “the latter cannot be heard” and adds that he would have “wanted to do restorative justice with her”. She doesn't react, but we feel that these words resonate within her.
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Other accused follow one another, denying the rapes for some, evoking their reintegration plans for others. Some of them hope for a reduced sentence. Cédric G. is part of the minority of accused who fully acknowledge the acts of rape. If he speaks, it is mainly to address the victim and share his remorse, his guilt and his shame. She looks him in the eyes, something she doesn't do for most defendants. This is one of the highlights that ends this morning.
1 hour 15 minutes was enough for all the accused to speak. “The debate is over”then announced the president, Roger Arata. He also specifies that the court will have to answer the questions in the indictment, but also several additional questions. Among them, the question of impaired discernment, which concerns more than thirty accused. The question will be: “Did the accused suffer at the time of the events from a psychological or neuropsychological disorder which impaired his discernment? »explains the president. Many defense lawyers have indeed chosen to ask this question, because they believe that Dominique Pelicot's manipulation of their clients could have led to an alteration of their discernment.
The court will now consult “in silence and meditation” and wonder about “his intimate conviction”specifies Roger Arata. The verdict will a priori be rendered on Thursday at 9 a.m., but this deadline will only be confirmed to the stakeholders on Wednesday evening. Each accused faces up to 20 years of criminal imprisonment in this case.
