Mazan rape trial: “We can no longer consider in 2024” that a woman “agrees” if she “did not say anything”, launches the prosecution

After eleven weeks of trial, his word was expected. The prosecution announced this Monday its requisitions in the sprawling Mazan rape trial, at the heart of which is Dominique Pelicot, accused of having drugged, raped and had his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot raped by dozens of men for a decade. recruited on the Internet. “We can no longer consider in 2024 that if she has said nothing”, a woman “is in agreement”, insisted the public prosecutor before the criminal court of Vaucluse, in Avignon.

“We can no longer say in 2024 since she didn't say anything, she agreedit’s from another age,” insisted general counsel Laure Chabaud. “The absence of consent could not be ignored by the accused,” she insisted, rejecting the “implicit” consent that some accused of rape of Gisèle Pelicot invoke for their actions. But also the consent “by proxy”, which would have been given to the accused by her now ex-husband Dominique Pelicot, “an even more blatant step backwards”.

Speaking at the opening of the prosecution's indictment Monday morning, Jean-François Mayet, deputy public prosecutor of Avignon, estimated that “the issue is not a conviction or an acquittal” but to “fundamentally change the relations between men and women. “This trial is shaking up our society in our relationship with others, in the most intimate relationships between human beings,” he insisted, noting the “extraordinary” nature of this trial “in view of the unimaginable seriousness of the facts accused at the same time of 51 accused.

The day against violence against women, “one more symbol”

Coincidentally, the prosecution began speaking on Monday on the occasion of the International Day Against Violence Against Women. “The indictment on this very special day is yet another symbol,” commented Me Antoine Camus, one of the two lawyers for the civil parties. These requisitions were closely scrutinized as the main victim, Gisèle Pelicot, 71, achieved the status of feminist icon after refusing to allow the trial to take place behind closed doors, “so that the shame changes sides”.

A few hours earlier, the prosecution had announced that it was seeking the maximum sentence of 20 years against Dominique Pelicot, for his “despicable actions”. “Twenty years is a lot because it’s 20 years of a life, whatever your age, it’s not nothing. But it is both a lot and too little. Too little considering the seriousness of the acts which were committed and repeated,” insisted Laure Chabaud.

Even if most are prosecuted for the same facts, namely aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot, and therefore also risk 20 years in prison, the individualization of sentences is obligatory. For the feminist collectives, who put up a banner on Sunday evening on the ramparts in front of the court, the request was very clear: “20 years for everyone”, they asked.

According to the official schedule, the indictment is scheduled for three days. But according to information collected from the various parties by AFP, it could end late Wednesday morning. Wednesday afternoon or Thursday at the latest, the floor will be given to the defense lawyers. Dominique Pelicot's lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, will open the ball. Then his colleagues will follow one another until December 13. The court will then have a week to deliberate, with a verdict expected on December 20 at the latest.