Dominique Pelicot was “found guilty” of the aggravated rapes against his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot, in the Mazan rape trial, which ends today in Avignon. Fifty-one defendants, accused of raping the woman who had been drugged by her husband for 10 years. Sentences could go up to a maximum of 20 years in prison.
The shock maxi-trial on the “Mazan rapes”, which pierced the veil on “chemical subjugation”, ended in Avignon, in the south of France. Unmoved, the victim, Gisèle Pelicot, listened in the courtroom to the “apologies” of her ex-husband, who for 10 years drugged and stunned her so that she could be raped by dozens of men whom he summoned via the Internet.
Gisele raped 200 times by 50 men, asked for 20 years for her husband: “I’m nothing given the gravity of the facts”
Among the 50 accused of sexual violence, only fifteen expressed apologies towards Gisèle, whose story has been seen around the world since the start of the trial in September. The sentence for “the Mazan rapes” – named after the town where the couple lived – will be announced on Thursday, with sentences that could go up to the expected maximum of 20 years in prison.
Pelicot’s words
“I would like to begin – said Dominique Pelicot, 72 years old, Gisèle’s ex-husband – by paying homage to the courage of my ex-wife”. «I ask you – continued the man who thought up and organized the rapes between 2011 and 2020 by dozens and dozens of people recruited on the web – and the rest of my family, to accept my apologies. I regret what I did, making them suffer for 4 years (from the date on which the facts emerged, ed.), I ask them for forgiveness.” Gisèle, also 72, listened without batting an eyelid, even when her ex-husband declared, in his last opportunity to speak in court, that he had told “the complete truth” in these 14 weeks of debate. Stating that his only desire is to “be forgotten” due to the “shame” he feels within himself. “I have built myself an armor – he said – otherwise you will die in prison”.
Gisele Pelicot drugged by her husband for years and raped by 50 men: “I fight for all of them, we shouldn’t be ashamed of ourselves”
The 50 co-accused also followed him closely, representing only a portion of the men recruited to rape his wife (others were not identified). Some did it several times, returning to the Pelicot house as many as five or six times. Some of them defended themselves by accusing him of having deceived them too, making them believe that he agreed with his wife in venturing into new experiences and that everything took place while she “pretended” to sleep. But what was listening to Dominique Pelicot were above all the five magistrates who will have to judge him.
The accusation
The prosecution asked for the maximum sentence, 20 years in prison. Against the other defendants accused of aggravated rape, the requests vary between 10 and 18 years, for only one the prosecution requests 4 years for “harassing” the victim. Half of Gisèle’s rapists did not venture into conversation, simply stating that they had “nothing to add.” About fifteen expressed their apologies differently, sometimes adding that they “had no intention” of committing rape or that they had been “deceived” by Dominique Pelicot.
Apologies
“I would like to apologize to Mrs Pelicot,” said a sixty-year-old, “I would like to offer my sincere apologies to the victim again,” echoed a thirty-six-year-old, “I will regret what I did for the rest of my life,” added Mathieu , 62 years old.
Jerome, 46, also spoke, who after the first time returned to the Pelicot house six times for an appointment with Gisèle’s “chemical submission”: “Whatever the punishment that will be inflicted on me, I will not appeal out of respect of the victim, so that he does not have to relive” another trial. The prosecution sought 16 years in prison against him. Alone, at the end of the debate, Gisèle, who has become a symbol of dignity and courage, got up to leave the room, receiving prolonged applause from the audience present.
Last updated: Thursday 19 December 2024, 10:20
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Related News :