Mazan: maximum sentence of 20 years required against Dominique Pelicot

The public prosecutor requested on Monday the maximum sentence, i.e. 20 years of criminal imprisonment, against Dominique Pelicot for his “despicable actions”, having, for a decade, drugged, raped and had his wife raped by dozens of men recruited on the internet .

“20 years is a lot because it’s 20 years of 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, second representative of the public prosecutor to speak Monday morning before the Vaucluse criminal court, in Avignon.

Eleven weeks of hearings

After eleven weeks of hearings, this internationally resonant trial is entering its final stretch, with the prosecution believing that the issue was to “fundamentally change the relationships between men and women”.

The heart of this trial is that of “male domination over women”, launched one of the representatives of the prosecution, Jean-François Mayet, at the opening of the indictment this Monday before the criminal court of Vaucluse.

He thus underlined that the issue of this trial “with unimaginably serious facts” was “not a conviction or an acquittal”. “This extraordinary trial leads to extraordinary requisitions,” he said.

Mr. Mayet praised the “courage” and “dignity” of Gisèle Pelicot, victim of some 200 rapes, half of which were attributed to her ex-husband.

“It’s a lot of emotion,” said Ms. Pelicot upon entering the courtroom. By chance of the calendar, this indictment which could last three days begins on the occasion of the international day for the fight against violence against women. “It’s one more symbol,” said Me Antoine Camus, one of the two lawyers for the civil parties.

One certainty: the requisitions will be closely scrutinized, as this trial has had a global impact and as the main victim, Gisèle Pelicot, 71, has achieved the status of feminist icon after refusing to allow the trial to take place behind closed doors, “so that shame changes sides”.

“Conductor”

Before the professional magistrates making up the court, the public prosecutor began its indictment with the “conductor” of this decade of rapes.

Dominique Pelicot, common denominator of the 50 co-accused recruited on the internet to whom he had delivered his now ex-wife, previously sedated with anxiolytics, to their marital home in Mazan between July 2011 and October 2020.

It is difficult to imagine that the maximum sentence of 20 years of criminal imprisonment would not be sought against him.

Dominique Pelicot has never hidden his responsibility, calling himself a “rapist”. “I am guilty of what I did (…) I ruined everything, I lost everything. I have to pay,” he said shortly after the start of the trial.

Even if most of the accused 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 example, to distinguish repeat offenders – ten men came several times – from those who came only once to Mazan.

Could these men aged 26 to 74 legitimately believe that they were participating in the scenario of a libertine couple, where the wife would pretend to sleep? Were they “manipulated” by Dominique Pelicot?

Or was their discernment impaired at the time of the events, as the lawyers for 33 of them further suggested on Wednesday?

«Nuance»

Finally, will the prosecution have a heavier hand towards the 35 accused who, at the opening of the trial, still firmly denied having participated in a “rape”, despite the damning videos filmed by Dominique Pelicot?

The demand of the feminist groups, who put up a banner on Sunday evening in front of the court, is very clear: “20 years for everyone”.

“There needs to be nuance in the sentences. We can only understand that by following the trial,” Brigitte Jossien, a 74-year-old retiree who arrived at 5:45 a.m. to attend the indictment, told AFP on Monday, after having followed the quasi- entire hearing with her friend Bernadette Teyssonnière, 69 years old.

The two women do not believe that this trial will bring changes to society: “It is sex education in schools that will change things” and also “modules in medical school so that future doctors are more attentive to chemical submission,” judge Bernadette.

Covered almost worldwide, with 138 accredited media including 57 foreigners, this trial has an impact well beyond French borders. As the president of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies, Karol Cariola, testified again on Thursday, saluting “the courage and dignity” of Gisèle Pelicot, “an ordinary citizen who gave a lesson to the whole world”.

And this weekend, tens of thousands of people – many women but also men – marched throughout France to demand a “surge” against violence against women, many referring to this extraordinary trial.

Subsequently, on Monday morning, the French government announced the extension of the system allowing women victims of sexual violence to file a complaint in a hospital with an emergency or gynecological department.

In Avignon, the indictment is scheduled for three days, according to the official schedule. But according to information collected from the various parties by AFP, it could end late Wednesday morning.

After the Pelicot case, the prosecution should advance crescendo with first the less serious cases, those of Joseph C., 69 years old, and Hugues M., 39 years old, respectively accused of sexual assault and attempted rape, before to tackle the 48 others (including one on the run).

After the indictment, the defense lawyers will have the floor until December 13. The court will then have a week to deliberate, with a verdict expected on December 20 at the latest.

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