MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
Gisèle Pelicot had the opportunity to speak one last time during the Mazan rape trial, where she was the main victim.
JUSTICE – The name of Pelicot, like that of Mazan, has been associated for around ten weeks with the sprawling trial which opened on September 2 at the Avignon courthouse. Dozens of men accused of having raped Gisèle Pelicot while she was under the chemical control of her husband Dominique took the stand. Himself accused of having raped her hundreds of times. This week, the trial will move into a new stage with pleadings and requisitions, but before that, the main victim spoke one last time this Tuesday, November 19.
The opportunity for Gisèle Pelicot to rebuke a “ trial of cowardice » in a society « macho » to which she tells “ change your perspective on rape “. She also answered several questions from the defense lawyers, arousing the ire of her counsel Me Stéphane Babonneau, who accused his colleague Nadia El Bouroumi of “ to martyr ».
But one of the exchanges also showed, fleetingly, the way in which Gisèle Pelicot perhaps envisaged the future, once the judicial machine had come to an end. While her face, surrounded by round sunglasses, has become a strong symbol, tagged on the walls of many cities, she does not intend to change her last name. Unlike two of his children, Caroline and Florian.
« I simply said: I have grandchildren named 'Pelicot' and I don't want them to be ashamed of wearing it. “, she recalled first, before talking about this new notoriety. A platform offered by her own hand since it was she, from the start, who refused to allow the trial to take place behind closed doors. So that the world matter » and that shame changes sides.
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A line of conduct that she sticks to until the last days, including for her surname, she unfolded in the courtroom, as relayed by journalists Juliette Campion, from Franceinfo, and Marion Dubreuil, from RMC, on X.
« When I arrived in this room my children were ashamed to have the name Pelicot, I wanted to wear it so that they would not be ashamed, she explained this Tuesday. (…) I am known throughout the world, regardless of my will. We will remember Madame Pelicot, much less Monsieur Pelicot. I want my grandchildren not to be ashamed of having this name. We will remember the grandmother, by Gisèle Pelicot ».
The verdict is expected on December 20 at the latest.
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