“You are not only going to judge the rapist,” argued Tuesday the lawyer for one of the 51 accused at the Mazan rape trial, asking the judges to take into account “the man” that his client “was and will be” and to lower the 14 years of prison required.
• Also read: Serial rapes in Mazan: a “rolled in trouble” accused wants to be acquitted
A 46-year-old worker, Jean-Luc L. appears in the detainee box. This father of four children is accused of aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot after coming twice to the couple’s home in Mazan (Vaucluse), in 2018 and 2019.
He had met Dominique, now ex-husband of Gisèle, on the site Coco.fr, on which the latter recruited strangers to rape his wife whom he had previously sedated.
The prosecution requested 14 years of criminal imprisonment against the man who, in police custody, had initially claimed that he did not know that he was committing rape because the husband had told him what to do.
During her requisitions, Attorney General Laure Chabaud rejected as “another age” this argument of consent “by proxy” invoked by several defendants.
“He will have words for the victim from the first time he is taken into custody. He will say, ‘I would like to ask the victim for forgiveness,’” his lawyer argued.
Ms. Pelicot did not attend the hearing on Tuesday, due to a funeral which she had to attend.
He returned a second time, after several contacts with Dominique Pelicot, partly out of “fear” that the latter would use the images filmed during his first visit, and because “he is someone weak, who has difficulty to say no,” argued the lawyer.
Noting his client’s lack of criminal record, “favorable elements of integration”, the lawyer wondered: “Could Mr. L. be considered someone incurable?” No (…) he is receiving treatment from a psychiatrist and a psychologist.”
“You are not going to judge only the rapist in this case, you are going to judge the man he was, the man he will be,” Me Preynet ordered the court, believing that his client “does not did not commit a tenth of what Dominique Pelicot committed,” against whom the maximum sentence of 20 years of criminal imprisonment was requested.
Me Charlotte Bres, who followed, also asked the court for a sentence lower than the 16 years required against her client, Cédric G., a computer technician also detained, protesting against the impact of the trial.
Also accused of “possession of pornographic images of minors”, in addition to aggravated rape, he admitted the facts, insisted the lawyer, placing the main fault on Dominique Pelicot, “the conductor” and not mentioning the victim.
Oral arguments are scheduled to last until December 13. The verdict is expected on December 20.
