In total, they were sentenced to more than 420 years in prison. The sentences handed down by the Vaucluse criminal court at the Mazan rape trial against several defendants caused a stir in front of the court where many people gathered to support Gisèle Pelicot, noted the Radio France reporter on site. . “Shame ! Justice “, shouted the crowd. None of the 51 co-defendants, men aged 27 to 74, was acquitted. The court handed down sentences of three years, two of which were suspended, to 20 years in prison.
Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years of criminal imprisonment, two thirds of which were suspended. But the other sentences are generally lower than the requisitions. Of the 51 convicted in the Mazan rape trial, 41 were immediately taken into custody, according to a franceinfo count.
Of these 41 men, 18 appeared before the Vaucluse criminal court while they were in pre-trial detention (including Dominique Pelicot), the other 23 are the subject of an immediate committal warrant. For the rest of the convicts, three are subject to a deferred committal warrant and the last six remain free.
But, echoing the children of Gisèle Pelicot, “disappointed with these low sentences“according to a family member, feminist organizations say”disappointed“even”indignant“by certain sentences handed down. The Women’s Foundation expresses”incomprehension” et “disappointment with some of the sentences, despite the witnesses and the evidence, sentences below the requisitions for the acts of aggravated rape“.
“Justice never takes its orders from popular vindictiveness.”recalls this Thursday on franceinfo Michelle Dayan, lawyer specializing in family law and president of the Lawyers for Women association. The lawyer does not appreciate these reactions: “I am a feminist, I fight every day against violence against women. She places their suffering, their rape, these crimes in my office. But I remain a lawyer and I remain human and ethical“, she explained on franceinfo.
“Prison has never educated anyone, never repaired anyone.”
Michelle Dayanat franceinfo
“Revenge does not repair the world or advance the cause of women. Booing victims or the accused is for me, as a human and as a lawyer, something that is not a good sign for society“, she concluded.
“The sentences handed down are not surprising. They are consistent with what is usually observed everywhere else before departmental criminal courts.“, explained for her part Anne Bouillon, lawyer at the Nantes bar, specializing in women’s and family law. “Depending on the profiles and background, it is between six and ten years of detention.“, she clarified. “The court was really concerned to apply the individualization of sentences, in other words not to impose sentences as an example.“, she remarked.
For Anne Bouillon, it is “happy“that”individualized court“the sorrows and that”it does not create a package where everyone would be sanctioned thanks to the legitimate emotion that this trial constituted“, she expressed.
“We judge well in the nuance“because”we try to understand the person in their complexity and their wholeness. This is also good justice“, she said. “If ultimately justice is reduced to handing out sentences like that in vending machine mode, (…) then we dehumanize justice“, she assured.
A few minutes after the verdict was announced, Gisèle Pelicot spoke to the press. The victim, aged 72, confided her “deep emotion“, evoking a “trial (which) was a very difficult ordeal“. Gisèle Pelicot said she thinks of her loved ones but also “to all the other families affected by this tragedy“, “to the unrecognized victims, whose stories often remain in the shadows. I want you to know that we share the same fight“. Finally, questioned by the press about the verdict, Gisèle Pelicot simply added: “I respect the court and the decision of the verdict.”