images of the altercation between a defense lawyer and feminist activists after the Mazan rape verdict

The tone rose outside the Avignon courthouse, following the verdict in the Mazan rape trial, between Christophe Bruschi, lawyer for Joseph C., and feminists present to support Gisèle Pélicot. After Joseph C. was sentenced to three years in prison but walked free, the lawyer shouted: “My client is free, he thanks you and he says fuck you!” This remark sparked a heated confrontation with feminists.

Christophe Bruschi then treated the demonstrators several times as “knitters”in reference to the revolutionary women who witnessed the guillotine during the French Revolution. A little later, the lawyer wanted to explain his remarks to several journalists present on site: “Indeed, I called them knitters, but not all women, far from it”he clarified, defending himself from any misogyny. His words were not a provocation according to him, but a way of describing a situation that he considered real.

The defense lawyer also returned to the sentences formulated by certain parties, which he considers severe: “Do you find it normal that these people ask for 20 years for everyone? Whereas most people, apart from the husband, are, for me, poor people.”

Despite everything, Christophe Bruschi wanted to salute the courage of Gisèle Pelicot, whom he says he deeply respects. “She decided to make the debate public, it was practically she who made this decision”he underlined, recalling that he had even tipped his hat to him during his pleading