Tensions broke out between the lawyer of one of the accused in the Mazan rape trial and the feminist activists who came to support Gisèle Pélicot and attend the verdict, this Thursday, December 19.
If the Mazan trial went smoothly despite a heavy atmosphere throughout the three and a half months of hearings, it ended with some tensions. The highly anticipated verdict did not satisfy everyone. Dominique Pélicot, tried for drugging, raping and delivering his wife to other attackers, and the 50 other defendants were all found guilty. But they were sentenced to sentences much lower than the requisitions that had been made, with the exception of Dominique Pélicot sentenced to 20 years of criminal imprisonment.
The other sentences handed down range from 15 years in prison, for the highest, to 3 years in prison, 2 of which are suspended, against requisitions which, with one exception, ranged from 18 to 10 years of minimum imprisonment. If these convictions disappointed a large number of feminist activists, they satisfied several defense lawyers. And one of them, Maître Christophe Bruschi, made it known in front of the crowd of demonstrators who came to support Gisèle Pélicot in front of the Avignon courthouse.
The lawyer, whose client Joseph C. received the smallest sentence for having sexually assaulted and not raped Gisèle Pélicot, went to show his satisfaction in front of the crowd who booed him. A welcome to which Me Bruschi reacted by insulting the activists. “I have a message from my client to all these hysterics and bad-mouthed people. The message is ‘shit’ and with a smile!”, he said. Described as a “shame for France” and insulted in return, the lawyer greeted the crowd with a condescending “go knitters” as a farewell.
Words that he repeated, assumed and even justified a few minutes later in front of the cameras. “During the Revolution, knitters were women sitting in front of the guillotine waiting for the ax to fall,” he declared, emphasizing the fact that the activists wanted heavier sentences which, according to him, were not. , not justified. “I did my job. Do you think it’s normal that these people are asking for 20 years for everyone when most of the people, apart from the husband, are poor people?” he said to the camera at subject of penalties. And the lawyer once again treats the activists as hysterics: “Look at them, they are furious. I accept that we say whatever we want. The contradiction I accept, but with a smile and in a non-aggressive manner.
A contradiction that he sought out himself by addressing the crowd. A form of provocation that the lawyer only half-heartedly acknowledges before accepting it when asked by journalists: “It’s not provocation, it’s reality. […] And if necessary, provoking this type of person doesn’t bother me at all. We are here to provoke and provoke debate.”
On the other hand, he denies any misogynistic implication in the use of the expression “knitter” at the end of a trial where the consideration and treatment of women was at the heart of the case. “I called them ‘knitters,’ but [ça ne s’adressait] not to all women, far from it”. He adds in passing that he saluted Gisèle Pélicot and her courage in a press release.
The altercations between Christophe Bruschi and the feminist activists were repeated later in the morning, only a few minutes before Gisèle Pélicot’s exit. The latter did not react at length to the convictions, saying “to respect the court and the decision of the verdict”.
