for the children of Gisèle Pelicot and feminists, the sentences are not up to par

JUSTICE – Twenty years of criminal imprisonment for Dominique Pelicot, accompanied by a prison sentence “two thirds” and three to fifteen years in prison for his fifty co-defendants. This Thursday, December 19, the Vaucluse criminal court delivered its verdict in the Mazan rape case. In total, the cumulative sentences reach 428 years while the prosecution had requested 652 years behind bars.

Because if the main accused, the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot, was sentenced to the maximum sentence, the same one that the public prosecutor had requested against him, this is not the case for his fifty co-defendants, who risked sentences ranging from 10 to 18 years in prison. Enough to arouse the disappointment of those who wanted exemplary sentences to be applied in this historic trial.

Sentences lower than requisitions

“Jacques C., five years suspended prison sentence; Lionel R., eight years in prison, Charlie A. thirteen years in prison, Redouane E. five years in prison with committal warrant, Simone M., nine years in prison…” This morning, after announcing his verdict concerning Dominique Pelicot, the president of the court Roger Arata recounted for several minutes in absolute silence the sentences to which the fifty men aged 27 to 74 also tried in this case were sentenced. The highest is fifteen years of criminal imprisonment with two-thirds security, the lowest is three years, two of which are suspended, as noted by the journalist from Franceinfo Juliette Campion on X. Around twenty defendants are the subject of a committal warrant, and were therefore taken to prison following the verdict. Three accused, Patrick A., Husamettin D. and Abdelali D., were released free due to their state of health.

Enough to arouse bitterness. In their statement to AFP at the end of the hearing, Gisèle Pelicot’s children did not hide their “disappointment” upon the announcement of the sentences imposed, considering them too « basses ». If Gisèle Pelicot, in the speech she gave at the end of the hearing, preferred to address “to the victims whose stories remain in the shadows” and had no word on the accused or the sentences handed down, the feminist collectives gathered in front of the Avignon court also expressed their anger. “Accomplice justice, it’s scandalous”shouted many women present when hearing the sentences.

Anger and disappointment of feminists

In a press release published following the announcement of the verdict, the president of the Women’s Foundation Anne-Cécile Mailfert declared that in “recognizing all the accused guilty of aggravated rape or attempted rape with the exception of a reclassification, justice ruled in favor of Gisèle Pelicot: shame can change sides”. However, she shares “the incomprehension and disappointment in the face of some of the sentences handed down despite witnesses and evidence, sentences below those required for acts of aggravated rape”.

Senator and former Minister of Women’s Rights Laurence Rossignol also spoke about “the gap between the requisitions and several sentences handed down is disappointing and significant”.

Same regret on the side of Dare to Feminism!, which considers that the sentences handed down are “much less severe than the average sentence handed down for rape in France, even though there are aggravating circumstances”. “The message sent is that rape, “it’s not that serious, it’s a sub-crime””analyzes to AFP the spokesperson for the association, Céline Piquès.

Less severe penalties to avoid appeal

How can we explain, precisely, this minimization of the sentences required by the public prosecutor? On “wanted to avoid 51 appeals, and a gargantuan new trial”.

A theory shared by the lawyer of several accused, including Didier S., who emerged free from the court. “The sanctions that were imposed were in consideration of the fact that we did not want there to be too many appeals” car “the Nîmes Court of Appeal could not afford a second Pelicot trial of this magnitude”.

If for the moment, none of Dominique Pelicot’s fifty co-accused have expressed their desire to appeal, the latter has indicated through his lawyer that he is giving himself time to think even if he “takes note” of this conviction. “We will take advantage of the ten-day period granted to us to find out if we are appealing this decision (…) and to find out if we must again be submitted to a popular jury this time”declared Me Zavarro to the press. It is also unknown whether the prosecution will appeal the sentences that it considers too lenient.

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