Pelicot

12th Week

part of a photo I took as Mme Pelicot entered the courthouse, with background removed

Translated to English from French by computer software. Poor translation with frequent pronoun errors

Juliette Campion

Hi all! Twelfth week of hearings in the trial of the rapes of #Mazan The prosecution's closing arguments for the 51 defendants begin today. New collages have appeared in the streets of Avignon. LT to follow for @franceinfo

"It is clear that his version of the facts is contradicted by the Skype conversation with Dominique Pelicot" where the latter "explicitly mentions that he is not bisexual and is looking for an accomplice to abuse - the word is written twice - his sleeping wife".

"This Skype conversation is perfectly explicit," insists Laure Chabaud, recalling that Dominique Pelicot had confided in her that he liked to "bang" his sleeping wife. He had also given her instructions not to wake her up.

Patrick A. thinks he was drugged by Dominique Pelicot, claiming "he doesn't remember anything after licking Dominique Pelicot's private parts: he doesn't even remember being sodomized," the magistrate said.

However, no expert retains any "alteration of discernment" concerning him.

The prosecutor's office is asking for ten years of criminal imprisonment for Patrick A., and a five-year socio-judicial follow-up, with an injunction for care.

We move on to the case of Jacques C., 73 years old, who came, he said, to have a sexual relationship with Dominique Pelicot and his wife.

He admitted to caressing the victim's genitals and admitted to having kissed her but assures that he did not penetrate her, due to a lack of an erection.

However, the public prosecutor believes that gang rape is characterized by the fact that Jacques C. filmed Dominique Pelicot's penetrations on his sleeping wife.

"The penetrations have not been established but, if there had been an erection, there would have been penetration," she said.

Jacques C. had no convictions on his criminal record. The public prosecutor asked for ten years of criminal imprisonment against him.

We move on to Hugues M., 39, prosecuted for attempted rape in October 2019 of Gisèle Pelicot. For Laure Chabaud, the rape was constituted, even without penetration on the part of Hugues M., through the co-action with Dominique Pelicot.

"Gisèle Pelicot's state of unconsciousness was perceptible as soon as she entered the room and should have led to a withdrawal from that moment," said the deputy prosecutor, noting that "some time passes and gestures are made".

She asked for ten years' imprisonment for Hugues M. "I will ask for a five-year socio-judicial follow-up with a care order," she adds.

The pace is very fast: about a quarter of an hour for the accused.

We move on to the case of Andy R., 37 years old. He is being prosecuted for aggravated rape on the night of December 31, 2018, in Mazan. He said he did not leave "because he found himself naked in front of an impressive Dominique Pelicot", reports Laure Chabaud.

He had also "entrenched himself behind his chronic state of alcohol at the time of the facts", she continues.

We can see on the videos "that he has, at the very least, made attempts at penile penetration and possible digital penetration".

"He knew that the victim was asleep, because Dominique Pelicot had told him 'shhh: you're going to wake her up'," says the attorney general.

She notes in Andy R. "a lack of emotional and behavioral control that can lead him to transgress rules", and stresses that he has "a conflictual relational context with different partners".

The man was sentenced in September 2023 to 18 months in prison, with a detention warrant, for domestic violence, in August 2018, against another partner.

Laure Chabaud is asking for eleven years in prison for Andy R.

We move on to Jean-Marc L., 74 years old. He is being prosecuted for "touching, digital penetration of the vagina and attempted penile penetration of the vagina and mouth of the unconscious victim", details the deputy prosecutor.

The man says he learned "during the procedure what consent was, because he thought that rape was necessarily violent".

"He knew at least that Gisèle Pelicot was taking sleeping pills: he understood as the acts progressed that she was not pretending," reports the magistrate. "We hear her ask: 'Can I fuck her?' and Dominique Pelicot replies: 'wait, calm down'".

The prosecutor's office is asking for ten years in prison for Jean-Marc L.

Jean-François Mayet takes the floor again and moves on to the case of Ghabi S., 37 years old. "He admitted to having tried, and only attempted, to penetrate the victim, but not to have succeeded, for lack of an erection," reports the attorney general.

On the videos, "it appears that he is pressed against Mrs. Pelicot and is moving back and forth. And at the first movement of the latter, he suspended his actions. And during a second movement, he would withdraw and leave the bed in a hurry," he explains.

However, his genitals are hidden in the images. "In the absence of certainty about the reality of penetration, it will be necessary to requalify the facts of aggravated rape as attempted aggravated rape," says the attorney general.

He is asking for a sentence of ten years' imprisonment for Ghabi S., with a three-year socio-judicial follow-up.

We move on to Simone M., 43 years old, a neighbor of the couple, prosecuted for penile and digital penetrations of the victim's vagina.

Several telephone exchanges took place "a few days before the facts" between Dominique Pelicot and him, but Simone M. assures "not having been informed of the state of chemical submission in which the victim was".

He acknowledged, however, that the septuagenarian "had imposed on her not to drink, not to speak loudly, so as not to wake her up". According to him, Dominique Pelicot only informed him that Gisèle Pelicot was drugged the day after the facts.

Simone M. "lived in New Caledonia in very modest living conditions. His childhood was described as happy until he was eleven years old, when he was allegedly raped by the man he worked for," the magistrate said.

The psychologist and psychiatrist experts "do not point to mental pathology or personality disorders, but to emotional deficiencies in his childhood, which have dug a narcissistic rift at the heart of his borderline functioning".

The public prosecutor stresses that he is "socially and professionally integrated" and lives with his new partner with whom he has had a child.

He proposed to sentence Simone M. to ten years in prison.

Without a break, we move on to another defendant: Philippe L., 62 years old. He said in the proceedings that he had "been practicing libertinism for years and went to swinger dating sites: that's how he exchanged with Dominique Pelicot," the magistrate said.

He maintained that he had come "to talk about gardening, in particular to trim the hedges of the couple's house".

During the hearing, "he admitted that Mrs. Pelicot had no reaction when he touched her," observes Jean-François Mayet. "There were no penile penetrations, having had no erection, but digital penetrations," he notes.

"At the time, he said that he had sex instead of a brain but stressed that he did not commit rape, because for him, digital penetration does not seem to constitute rape," said the attorney general.

The man spent "15 months and 24 days" in pre-trial detention, he recalled.

Jean-François Mayet is asking for ten years of criminal imprisonment for Philippe L.

We move on to Paul G., 31 years old, who performed "penetrations of the mouth and vagina" of Gisèle Pelicot.

Dominique Pelicot told him that his wife wanted to have an exchange "with a black man". Paul G. "suspected that Dominique Pelicot had filmed him since he himself had filmed Dominique Pelicot penetrating his wife," said the attorney general.

"He admitted that he did not realize at the time the seriousness of his actions" and that he only became aware of it "later, by discussing with those close to him."

Experts point out that he has "a borderline, abandoned, immature and impulsive personality" and "appeared to be reluctant to introspection". But he admits all the facts of the case and "his criminological dangerousness appeared to be low", notes the magistrate.

The thirty-year-old has two convictions on his record: one in January 2015 for theft and forgery of checks, for which he was given a suspended prison sentence. And a conviction in January 2018 for spousal violence.

The public prosecutor is asking for ten years of criminal imprisonment for Paul G., and a three-year socio-judicial follow-up.

We are now looking at the case of Ludovick B., 39, prosecuted for acts dating back to December 2019, committed in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, the accused being from the Yvelines.

The facts took place at the home of Caroline Darian and her husband: they had lent their house to the couple at Christmas.

Ludovick B. said that Dominique Pelicot "scared him, especially by his stature" and said he "understood a posteriori that it was a rape".

He claimed that he was "a collateral victim of Dominique Pelicot's fantasies, while admitting part of his own responsibility," continues Jean-François Mayet.

Ludovick B. was a victim of rape by Fabrice Motch, a former fire captain in the Yvelines, convicted in 2010 for rape and sexual assault on seven young firefighters he supervised, as I relate in this article for @franceinfo francetvinfo.fr/faits-divers/a...

@franceinfo His criminological dangerousness is considered "low to medium". The prosecutor's office is asking for a ten-year sentence for Ludovick B. in prison.

@franceinfo The hearing, which was very intense, was suspended for a quarter of an hour: it resumed at 4:30 p.m.

@franceinfo Feminist activists demonstrate in front of the court in Avignon and demand "twenty years" for each of the defendants.

The hearing resumes with the closing arguments for Mathieu D., 53 years old. A total of thirty communications were counted between Dominique Pelicot and him at the time of the facts.

"He acknowledges that Dominique Pelicot told him that he was giving his wife a sleeping pill but maintains that he believed in a scenario," reports the deputy prosecutor, Laure Chabaud.

At the time of the facts, dating from October 2020, Mathieu D. can be heard whispering: "it's crazy that she doesn't wake up, it's weird anyway". And Dominique Pelicot replied: "when she refuses, I fuck her like that".

On one of the videos concerning him, the victim sketches "a semi-awakening movement that leads to a panic movement in the two men".

His childhood was "chaotic to say the least, where women - his mother, his sister - occupied an essential place", while "men were sources of suffering for him", observes the attorney general.

"In adulthood, toxic substances have filled an existential void," she notes.

The fifty-year-old spent "11 months and 21 days" in pre-trial detention and has no mention on his record.

For Mathieu D., the public prosecutor is asking for ten years in prison.

We move on to Quentin H., 34 years old. At the time of the incident, "the scene seemed strange to him because the woman was not behaving normally," he described, admitting that the victim's body "did not have the consistency of the body of an awakened person."

"The facts are admitted by Quentin H. who admits that the acts on a sleeping person do indeed constitute rape," said the magistrate.

Quentin H.'s career path is "somewhat atypical", she notes, since it is "initially oriented towards professions of authority and law enforcement".

He presented a special relationship with the law since he "first held the position of deputy for security in the police" and then "joined prison security" and "did not hesitate to consume, buy, and above all to resell narcotic products".

For Quentin H., the public prosecutor is asking for eleven years in prison.

We move on to Patrice N., 55, who "didn't think you could do this to his wife and would only have responded to the husband's request," says Laure Chabaud.

"At the hearing, he only remembered the digital penetrations. He thought that yes, there could have been vaginal penetration, and that it seemed to him that yes, there could have been oral penetration," she reports, with a touch of irony.

This electrician "has a good social and professional integration" but "his life path is more chaotic on the marital level, with a more libertine period, turned towards unfounded encounters", observes the attorney general.

She is asking for twelve years in prison for Patrice N.

We move on to Husamettin D., 43, who, "at first, did not want to touch Gisèle Pelicot, because he thought she was dead," says the attorney general, raising her voice on the word "dead".

In confrontation, he had "confused and contradictory explanations". "At the hearing, he persisted in saying that, in his idea, the victim was pretending to be asleep, but he could not remember whether she had taken medication or alcohol," said the magistrate.

"There is no trace of Dominique Pélicot's threat on him," she continues. On the contrary, in the videos, "Husamettin D. appeared rather at ease, since he even asked Dominique Pelicot to move his wife's leg to facilitate penetration".

"His childhood was marked by uprooting: he arrived in France (from Turkey) at the age of 6," she said, noting that he had "a complicated adult life, with the difficulty of conceiving a child with his wife, then the birth of a child with Down syndrome".

"In view of the nature of the acts carried out and the unclear position of Husamettin D., I would ask for a sentence of twelve years in prison," said the attorney general.

Observation: it seems that the sentences are getting heavier (twelve years) for the defendants who have not admitted the facts, especially at the hearing.

Observation bis: Gisèle Pelicot listens attentively, shows no reaction. She is alone, without her children. Surrounded only by her two lawyers and the young woman from the association France Victimes who has been with her since the beginning of the trial.

We move on to Cyrille D., 54 years old: the public prosecutor speaks of multiple penetrations on the victim concerning him, oral and vaginal.

"He felt that he had been deceived by Dominique Pelicot who did not clearly tell him the context. However, he knows before going at least that Gisèle Pelicot has taken a pill to relax," said the magistrate.

On the videos, "Dominique Pelicot holds the mouth (of the victim) open during the fellatio inflicted by the accused. Gisèle Pelicot snores, almost chokes," she says.

"For me, saying: 'yes indeed a rape' is not a full and complete recognition, because Cyrille D. entrenched himself behind Dominique Pelicot, saying that he deceived her, that he was insistent," she said, asking for twelve years in prison against him.

We move on to the case of Nizar H., 41 years old. During the investigation, "he did not admit any responsibility, claimed to have acted like a robot," said Jean-Francois Mayet, who took over from his colleague for the last two defendants of the day.

"At the hearing, he maintained most of these elements, not excluding having been drugged because, on the videos, he did not appear in his normal state. As a result, he did not remember anything," reports the attorney general.

"He is one of the few, at least on the videos, who seems to question the lack of alarm clock on Mrs. Pelicot," he said, observing that "he does not appear to be drugged on the videos (...) and at least not to lose control of his gestures and his free will."

"He was looking for a sexual relationship with a woman, quick and immediate, which is what Dominique Pelicot proposed," he adds.

Nizar H., who appears in custody, has been in pre-trial detention since March 2021, i.e. for 44 months. "These long months have changed him," he said. His record includes several convictions, including for acts of violence against a spouse and abduction of a child.

The public prosecutor is asking for thirteen months of criminal imprisonment against Nizar H.

We move on to the last defendant of the day: Redouan E., 55, who "ended up acknowledging the materiality of the facts" but maintained that they took place "as part of a scenario and that Dominique Pelicot had offered him his wife", reports Jean-François Mayet.

The man, who "claimed not to have known if Gisèle Pelicot was sleeping or if she was faking, assured that as a nurse-anesthetist, he was able to determine the state of consciousness of Mrs. Pelicot".

"In addition to the snoring, it appeared that Dominique Pelicot was asking him to do it gently. And when the victim jerked out, Redouan E. suspended his actions," the magistrate continued.

At the hearing, the very voluble, angry defendant "denounced a couple addicted to alcohol, drugs, and guilty of criminal acts on which he had evidence", reports the attorney general, as I had related in this article: francetvinfo.fr/faits-divers/a...

He presents "an absence of empathy for the victim and an absence of criticism of the facts".

The prosecutor's office is asking for twelve years of criminal imprisonment for Redouan E.

The hearing is suspended and will resume tomorrow with the continuation of the closing arguments. In total, the prosecutor's office ruled today on 21 defendants, with sentences ranging from 10 to 17 years for the aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot (apart from Dominique Pelicot).

Thank you for following this thread to @franceinfo

@franceinfo Gisèle Pelicot left the court to applause, assailed by journalists. She receives a large bouquet of flowers from Portugal.

@franceinfo A feminist rally sings "The Women's Anthem" in front of the court in Avignon, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

I would like to point out that thirteen YEARS have been requested against Nizar H.

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Marion Dubreuil

50th day of hearings (12th week) in the so-called #viols of #Mazan trial where 51 men accused of aggravated rape appear. The public prosecutor's office is due to begin its two-vote indictment this morning over three days to bring the accusation and request the sentences
@RMCInfo

@RMCInfo The public prosecutor continues with Didier S, 68, who is accused of gang rape on January 30, 2019
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@RMCInfo Didier S will explain that he became homosexual after a bladder operation. Sex toys and wigs were found at his home, he said that he went to the Pelicots' house with the prospect of a homosexual plan.

@RMCInfo He said that he had discovered the presence of Gisèle Pelicot when he entered the room, that he did not know at the time that she was under chemical submission, he disputed Mrs. Pelicot's penetrations, he said that he did not notice that she was not consenting, that he had not heard him snoring

@RMCInfo For Didier S., it was an "involuntary rape, considering his share of responsibility minimal" at the hearing, it will be remembered that he told Gisèle Pélicot, "you are your husband's victim, you are not my victim"

It appears from the videos that on two occasions, Didier S. stops when Gisèle Pelicot moves, that he leaves the room at the request of Dominique Pelicot. He facilitated Dominique Pelicot's erection by performing fellatio on him before he penetrated the victim.

"Aware of having committed the irreparable while looking for mitigating circumstances. Didier S is under CJ after having served a period of 10 months and 20 days of pre-trial detention, with a criminal record of nil.

The public prosecutor is asking for 10 years in prison for Didier S with 5 years of follow-up with a care order

Rumours on the defence benches. The attorney general is already resuming with the next Patrick A. for facts of March 2018
On the left on the sketch ✍️ 🎨
He too will say that the purpose of his coming to the Pelicots is a homosexual relationship

The attorney general then read Dominique Pelicot's instructions exchanged by messages: "She takes her sleeping pill every day and I take advantage of it. No dirty nails. (…) A beautiful prude slut who doesn't want a threesome"

"The desire to have a relationship with Dominique Pelicot was stronger. For him, she was sleeping soundly, he admits that Gisèle Pelicot was not capable of consenting. He admits to having thought too much about having a relationship with Mr. Pelicot."

"On two occasions, Dominique Pelicot says that he is looking for an accomplice to "abuse" his wife, Patrick A. had the necessary information, he didn't want to see anything"

"He has a devalued image of himself, he has a primary vision of the relationship with the other objectifying this search for the satisfaction of sexual needs and his difficulty in repressing desires can be a factor of concern"

Placed under judicial control after 15 months and 28 days of pre-trial detention, Patrick A. has no criminal record for Patrick A., who is asking for 10 years in prison and a 5-year socio-judicial follow-up with a care order

The public prosecutor now requests for Jacques C.
My sketch ✍️ 🎨

No questions about consent in a first version, he claims not to have touched Gisèle Pelicot, assuring that she was unconscious, he is accused of oral penetration, "he finally admitted to caresses"

Laure Chabaud underlines the evolving statements of Jacques C. On the videos, Gisèle Pelicot's snoring is audible, Dominique Pelicot can be heard saying "if she moves, you leave", all of which shows the desire not to wake up the victim

The gang rape is characterized while Dominique Pelicot imposes oral genital penetration on his wife, the movement of the image and the silhouette of Jacques C is only visible at the end of the scene, so we can retain the co-action

Jacques C. unquestionably lived a difficult childhood, he nevertheless managed to build a family life, he practiced libertinism, which could, according to experts, have facilitated the passage to the act

He was placed in pre-trial detention for 11 months and 14 days "if there had been an erection there would have been penetration," says Laure Chabaud, who is asking for 10 years in prison with a 5-year socio-judicial follow-up with a care order (3 years in prison extra in case of non-follow-up)

It is now Hugues M. in permanent search of adrenaline, he knew that he would have sex with a sleeping woman but it was planned that she would wake up, he was satisfied with the explanations of Dominique Pelicot who assured him that she had drunk too much

Gisèle Pélicot's advanced state of unconsciousness is perceptible as soon as she enters the room. I consider that there are enough elements that we could not situate ourselves in a game, a scenario, the crime of intent to rape is characterized

Someone who has effective legal and moral references, however, he has an addiction to sexuality, on the one hand attached to the pleasure of his partner, on the other hand overflowing sexuality with the need to seduce. His ex-girlfriend appeared upset on the stand

There is no proof that she could have been a victim of chemical submission, but she relates a fact: she had been woken up by digital penetration while she was sleeping, he had apologized, claiming to have acted in his own sleep.

The public prosecutor is asking for the same sentence: 10 years in prison with a socio-judicial follow-up of 5 years (3 additional years in prison in case of failure to follow-up)

The public prosecutor corrects Andy R. who has a vague memory of the facts, it is certain, he assures us, that he was not aware that Dominique Pelicot had given him sleeping pills.

At the hearing, he admitted the facts, claimed to have faked back and forth to please Dominique Pelicot, he hid behind his chronic state of alcohol at the time of the facts

He was able to express his shame and deliver an apology to Gisèle Pelicot. A good part of Andy R.'s life is linked to his alcohol consumption problem. He was placed in pre-trial detention for 1 year. He has been convicted of theft and domestic violence.

He was recently convicted of intra-family violence against another partner. The attorney general, who stresses "A notion of violence in one's relations with women", requires 11 years in prison, 5 years of socio-judicial monitoring

Laure Chabaud is now interested in Jean-Marc L.
My sketch ✍️ 🎨

He will say that he is a lover of libertinism with little experience, put in contact with Dominique Pelicot for swinging, they met in the parking lot of Auchan to agree on a meeting before the facts, he received photos of Gisèle Pelicot asleep

"No perfume, nails cut. he discovered Gisèle Pelicot asleep in the bedroom, he realized as the acts progressed that she was not pretending to sleep, he had continued his actions under the orders of Dominique Pelicot who frightened him"

"It was with the procedure that he had learned consent, he thought until then that rape was necessarily with violence."

"Jean-Marc L. had assured that he had not felt any excitement, yet on a video we hear him tomorrow "can I her?" and Dominique Pelicot to answer him "you have to calm down" moreover Jean-Marc L. had considered going back with a friend

Now under judicial control, he has served 9 months and 28 days in pre-trial detention, 5 mentions on his criminal record for theft, concealment of unintentional injuries related to transport.

The public prosecutor is asking for 10 years in prison for Jean-Marc L. The public prosecutor resumes with Saifeddine G.
My sketch ✍️ 🎨

"He said he was uncomfortable with the fact that it was his first libertine experience, Dominique Pelicot encouraged him to penetrate Mrs. Pelicot into an overheated room" with the prior instructions

Saifeddine G. claims to have tried to penetrate Gisèle Pelicot with his penis without succeeding despite her numerous pelvic movements, "a simulation of the action to satisfy Dominique Pelicot"

The public prosecutor asked for the facts of aggravated rape to be reclassified as attempted aggravated rape without proof of penetration.

He is asking for a 10-year prison sentence for Saifeddine G. The accused holds his head in his hands, visibly in shock

The Advocate General continues with Simone M.
my sketch ✍️ 🎨

A neighbor of the Pelicots who had come to the Pelicots' home before the events
He had been instructed "not to drink, to undress in the kitchen and to interrupt himself at the slightest movement of Gisèle Pelicot"

He agreed that the man could not give the consent of his time to a sexual relationship. He claimed that Dominique Pelicot had proposed a libertine scenario to him, yet he had gone to the Pelicots' house beforehand without exchanging with Gisèle Pelicot, which seems incoherent

He grew up in New Caledonia where he lived in very modest circumstances a happy childhood until the age of 11, at which age he was the victim of a man and took refuge in alcohol to find comfort.

Important narcissistic flaws related to his virility, his image as a man are noted by the expert. The prognosis appears to be quite favourable in view of a low criminological dangerousness "the question of consent does not appear to be completely resolved"

Simone M. served 11 months and 21 days in pre-trial detention. The public prosecutor is asking for 10 years in prison and 5 years of socio-judicial monitoring

The public prosecutor continues with Philippe L.
My sketch ✍️🎨

Philippe L. explained that he practiced libertinism, he had watched videos of Gisèle Pelicot with other men with Dominique Pelicot, "which had excited him, he had masturbated", Philippe L. believed that he was not the author of a rape, he thought Gisèle Pelicot consented

"At the bar he has now come to talk about gardening and lingerie, Dominique Pelicot is said to have offered him a drink. He admits that on the videos at no time did Gisèle Pelicot appear conscious or participatory. Dominique Pelicot would have presented it as a fantasy"

"He said that he had sex instead of the brain, but he assured that he had not committed rape because he did not have an erection and discovered that digital penetration constituted rape."

The public prosecutor requested a 10-year suspended prison sentence with a 3-year ineligibility sentence (this additional sentence varies from 3 to 5 years depending on the defendants)

The public prosecutor is now interested in Paul G. Who couldn't explain his behavior in any other way than by his selfish
✍️ 🎨 pleasure

At the hearing, recalls Jean-Francois Mayet, Paul G. admitted all the facts of which he was accused

Paul G. spent 11 months in pre-trial detention, his record bears traces of two convictions, the first for theft, the second for domestic violence against his partner, who was pregnant at the time

The public prosecutor is asking for 10 years in prison for Paul G. With a socio-judicial follow-up of 3 years (2 additional years in prison in case of failure to follow-up)

Jean-François Mayet continues with Ludovick B.
My sketch ✍️🎨

He said that Mr. Pelicot scared him, he explained that he understood afterwards that it was rape but he said that he never intended to rape and considered himself a victim of Dominique Pelicot, for him Gisèle Pelicot was drunk but not asleep

It was well before any act that Ludovick B. had been informed of Gisèle Pelicot's condition, the attorney general assures, a state that had been underlined by Dominique Pelicot's instructions. Ludovick's statements are not very credible, according to the magistrate

In particular, the magistrate brushes aside the parallel between the acts suffered in childhood and the acts imposed on Gisèle Pelicot under the control of Dominique Pelicot

He is asking for 10 years in prison for Ludovick B.
And is asking for a suspension of the hearing
@RMCInfo

@RMCInfo Outside the courthouse, activists chant "20 years for everyone"

@RMCInfo "Caroline, I believe you #inceste"

@RMCInfo Back in the room, I barely have time to hear that the prosecutor's office is asking for 10 years in prison against Mathieu D.

@RMCInfo It is now on Quentin H. that the attorney general continues
My Sketch ✍️ 🎨

@RMCInfo "He will declare that Dominique Pelicot had told him that she should not be woken up but that she was consenting, which is quite paradoxical," says Laure Chabaud.

@RMCInfo "At the hearing, he explained that Dominique Pelicot had told him that he had a friend who had the fantasy of sleeping sex. The scene had seemed strange to him, this woman was not behaving normally, he had not tried to see her face. »

@RMCInfo "His body did not have the consistency of the body of an awakened person," he explained. He decided to leave, he had hesitated for fear of rushing Mr. Pelicot."

@RMCInfo "He had been attracted by a part of curiosity, he admitted that he could have left as soon as he arrived but that he had felt trapped, he conceded to Gisèle Pelicot that she was indeed the main victim of this case."

@RMCInfo Quentin H.'s career path and profile are somewhat atypical, this career path is oriented towards professions of authority and law enforcement.

@RMCInfo "at the same time, he presents a particular relationship with the law, first as an ADS and then as a prison guard, he does not hesitate to buy, consume and then resell narcotic products," explains Laurent Chabaud

@RMCInfo No criminological dangerousness. He was held for 17 months in pre-trial detention. His criminal record does not bear any mention. In view of the actions, the position of Quentin H., who admits his responsibility, but also his personality, the magistrate asks for 11 years in prison

@RMCInfo The attorney general now addresses the situation of Patrice N., the meeting with Dominique Pelicot was the second swinger meeting, he had warned her that Gisèle Pelicot would be asleep.

My sketch ✍️ 🎨

@RMCInfo "He saw that Gisèle Pelicot did not wake up, especially when he imposed fellatio on her, on his questioning Dominique Pelicot had told him that he was drugging his wife. He had left the premises calling him sick"

@RMCInfo "At the hearing he only remembered the digital penetrations and that he had not had an erection, he had explained that he expected to see a woman awake when he arrived at the Pelicots' home. He says he understood the facts a posteriori. »

@RMCInfo "There is no doubt that there has indeed been penile penetration and we hear Dominique Pelicot say distinctly softly, Gisèle Pelicot is moving and her husband is covering her with a duvet. If Patrice N. presents a good integration, a break in 2015 leads him to instability"

@RMCInfo An expert also notes a divide in him, he was detained for one year, his record shows no trace of any conviction in view of the acts carried out, Patrice N.'s position fluctuating throughout the procedure, the public prosecutor asks for 12 years in prison against him

@RMCInfo Husamettin D. assures that he was reluctant to touch Gisèle Pelicot because he thought, in his own words, that she was dead, reassured by Dominique Pelicot who told him that she was tired and had been drinking, he had resumed his actions.
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@RMCInfo At the hearing he persisted in saying that in his idea she was pretending to be asleep, he could not remember if it was that she had drunk alcohol or taken medication

@RMCInfo "He appeared rather comfortable on the videos, even took the initiative to move Gisèle Pelicot's leg to facilitate Dominique Pelicot's penetration."

@RMCInfo "Her childhood was marked by uprooting at the age of 6 in France, rejected by her father, then a life of wandering. His difficulties in conceiving and then having a child with Down syndrome, then developing polyarthritis himself"

@RMCInfo The attorney general notes the cleavage of Husamettin D. "On the one hand his life as a couple and on the other hand outside the couple a practice turned towards libertinism"

@RMCInfo "In view of the nature of the accomplished facts and an unstable position", the public prosecutor requested 12 years in prison against the accused

@RMCInfo For Cyrille D., the magistrate evokes a particularly unbearable video of a fellatio imposed on Gisèle Pelicot who snores and suffocates, Dominique Pelicot tells her "let her breathe"
On the right on the sketch ✍️ 🎨

@RMCInfo "He admitted to a problem but had not been able to stop Dominique Pelicot had been insistent when he wanted to leave, he admitted to having filmed Dominique Pelicot raping his wife. He admitted that he had not had the consent of Gisèle Pelicot."

@RMCInfo "At the hearing he has a more ambivalent position, he should have related the state in which he finds Gisèle Pelicot to the information given to him by Dominique Pelicot who told him that she had taken a pill to relax"

@RMCInfo "He hides behind the fact that he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot, saying that it was rape is not a full and complete recognition. He has the incentive for certain acts, we will note a multiplicity of acts committed on the side on the back"

@RMCInfo Cyrille D. has a painful past with narcissistic flaws, his entourage is not lacking in positive adjectives about him, we know that he can have a nervous behavior, an addiction to the internet.

@RMCInfo Cyrille D. was detained for 20 months and 14 days and has no record. In view of her ambiguous position, the public prosecutor asks for 12 years in prison with a socio-judicial follow-up of 5 years

@RMCInfo The public prosecutor wants to address two other cases before the suspension
He starts with Nizar H.
✍️, my sketch of Nizar H. at the microphone in the box

@RMCInfo "He didn't remember anything, but he did remember the glass of water that came from the refrigerator and not from the tap. He conceded that from the first physical contact something was wrong. He is one of the few who seems to wonder about the lack of alarm clock in Mrs."

@RMCInfo "To Dominique Pelicot's answer who assured her that she would move a little but would not wake up, Nizar H. would continue her actions. It will be interrupted at the first signs of awakening. " continues the attorney general

@RMCInfo "Nizar H. acted on Mrs. Pelicot without ever having obtained her consent, without ever having sought to obtain it"

@RMCInfo He has been in pre-trial detention for 44 months, the public prosecutor recalls his record which mentions domestic violence, child abduction and other violence, the public prosecutor asks for 13 years in prison against Nizar H.

@RMCInfo In the box, Nizar H. holds his head and lets out a loud sigh in the box.

@RMCInfo The public prosecutor ends with Redouane E., whom he recalls was a nurse anesthetist "in addition to the snoring heard on the videos, it appears that Dominique Pelicot was signaling him to stop sometimes." ✍️ 🎨

@RMCInfo "From the start, Redouane E. knew the context in which the events were going to take place, Dominique Pelicot's message asking her to wait before she was fully asleep, excludes the hypothesis of a scenario"

@RMCInfo In front of the expert psychologist, he recognized the amoral nature of a sexual relationship with a physically impaired person. But unfavourable prognostic elements were noted, such as the lack of empathy towards the victim

@RMCInfo Redouane E. served a period of pre-trial detention of 10 months and 15 days concerning this 55-year-old defendant in view of the facts and their seriousness "he seems to have changed little in his consideration of the facts alleged in view of the statements made at the bar"

@RMCInfo The lawyer is asking for 12 years in prison against Redouane E. with 5 years of socio-judicial monitoring

@RMCInfo The hearing resumed at 9 a.m.
@RMCInfo
✍️

• • •

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DISPATCH FROM AVIGNON

Revealed: the post-court lunches and jokes shared by Pelicot accused

new

Dozens of men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot have descended upon the medieval French city for the trial. Residents find their presence deeply unsettling

Dominique Pelicot is among the 51 men charged with the rape, attempted rape or sexual assault of his wife, Gisèle Pelicot. He has admitted drugging her before inviting strangers to abuse her

REUTERS

Constance Kampfner

, Avignon

Saturday November 23 2024, 6.30pm GMT, The Sunday Times

There is nothing special about the group of men who can often be found sipping pints outside a brasserie in Avignon. They share a few jokes and, in more candid moments, their anxieties about what the future may have in store.

That will be decided in a matter of weeks, when their fate is sealed at the courthouse 200 metres up the road. In their jeans and anoraks they could be tourists taking a break from sightseeing in this beautiful medieval French city — but these men are co-defendants in the country’s largest ever rape trial.

Fifty-one men are charged with raping, sexually assaulting or attempting to rape Gisèle Pelicot, 72, while she was unconscious. Her then-husband Dominique, 71, spent nine years routinely sedating her by crushing pills into her food and drink at the home they had retired to in Mazan, Provence, before inviting strangers he met on an online forum to abuse her.

The accused range in age from 26 to 74 and hail from the working and middle classes, with jobs in manual labour, firefighting and journalism. The only thing that unites them is what they did inside the Pelicots’ bedroom, documented in hours of grim footage which has been played to the court.

Gisèle Pelicot

CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP

Only 15 of the accused, including Pelicot’s ex-husband, have pleaded guilty. One is on the run and being tried in absentia.

As the owner of the nearest place to the court where you can get a decent coffee, Youssef is used to serving some unsavoury characters. Yet he has found the past ten weeks singularly unsettling.

“Frankly, they give me goosebumps,” he said, describing how most days the same five defendants converged on his café, for morning espressos and lunchtime beers. With so many men taking the stand, it became necessary to split them into groups for cross-examination, causing unlikely cliques to form.

Some defendants often take a break at a local cafe, where a waiter said their conversations gave him “goosebumps’

“I try not to listen to them, but when I do, all I hear is, ‘Yes, OK, we had sex with her, but we’re not rapists’. Sometimes I feel like recording them,” Youssef said. “I’ve asked them, can you imagine if your wife drugged you and invited men round? They didn’t answer me.”

The co-accused come and go through the same lobby as their alleged victim. Last week a group of them could be overheard swapping notes on their “prognosis”. If found guilty, the men face up to 20 years in jail. “Maybe they should just write one to 20 on bits of paper and we all pick one out and take our chances,” one joked.

The men were identified after Dominique Pelicot was caught upskirting women at a supermarket in September 2020. A search of his devices revealed thousands of photos and videos of men engaging in sexual acts with his wife. Gisèle Pelicot recognised just one of them, someone she would sometimes greet at the local bakery.

Though they cannot contest the material facts of the case, the men’s legal teams have presented a range of defences. It wasn’t rape because they caressed her, or because they had her husband’s consent.

Some said they had raped “reluctantly”, others “accidentally”. One said he had been brainwashed; another who gave a thumbs up to the camera before driving two-and-a-half hours home to Lyon claimed he could not remember anything.

One defendant leaves court last week. Some have claimed they were brainwashed or drugged; all but 15 deny rape

REX

Most have depicted themselves as scapegoats, claiming they were tricked by Dominique into believing his wife had agreed to a risqué “ménage à trois” and was only pretending to be asleep. Yet her inert, snoring body in the clips tells another story.

After weeks sitting on the same uncomfortable wooden benches as her alleged attackers and listening as their loved ones — overwhelmingly women — testified to their good character, Pelicot took the stand for the last time this week and denounced a “trial of cowardliness”.

The former logistics manager has become a feminist icon after waiving her right to anonymity. “It’s time that the macho, patriarchal society that trivialises rape changes,” she said. It was time for “shame to change sides”, she said.

Yet before she could sit down, she was once again subjected to a barrage of questions from the defence. Why had she not cried more throughout the trial? Why had she brought her husband clothes in prison? Was she not still under his grip, colluding with him to bring down 50 men, 50 families, over a simple mistake?

After she finished her cross-examination, Nadia El Bouroumi, who has proven herself to be the most unsparing lawyer for the defence, spoke to a pack of reporters outside the courtroom, chewing gum as she fired out replies. The lawyer, who has previously denied mocking Pelicot after posting a video of her dancing to Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go on Instagram, said: “I will be demanding an acquittal of my clients.”

Nadia El Bouroumi, one of the defence lawyers at the Pelicot trial, has been accused of mocking the victim

ALAMY

The accused put their hoods up to avoid the cameras and huddled outside for a cigarette break. When Pelicot emerged, she looked flattened.

She has described how “humiliated” she has felt during the trial, which has seen lawyers circulate naked photographs of her they claim proved she was an “exhibitionist”, and said the whole experience had opened her eyes as to why rape victims don’t press charges.

On Wednesday, her lawyers delivered their closing arguments, congratulating their client for her decision to throw open her trial and “illustrate how rape is still defended in France in 2024”.

One, Stéphane Babonneau, told The Sunday Times he had some “apprehension” about the weeks ahead, when it would be the turn for each defence lawyer to sum up their client’s case. “We’re going to have a full-on concentration of everything we’ve heard so far, some of which has been difficult for Madame Pelicot to listen to,” he said.

Pelicot with her lawyers Stéphane Babonneau, right, and Antoine Camus

GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO/EPA

He criticised what he described as a “surreal” last-ditch attempt by the other side to claim the defendants may also have been drugged by her husband.

One by one, their lawyers queued up on Wednesday to ask the judge to consider the possibility that their clients’ decision-making had been impaired, despite most having never suggested it before.

“It’s the latest excuse and it’s completely absurd,” said Babonneau.

“Madame Pelicot wasn’t expecting anything from these men, but they still managed to disappoint her, right up to the last second.”

The chilling revelations also kept on coming. The court had already heard how Pelicot was raped at home and on holiday, in her bedroom and on the living room table, on Valentine’s Day and her 66th birthday.

This week her husband was asked why, even after he had been caught and knew it was only a matter of time before the full scale of his crimes came to light, he still had strangers come to the house to rape her. He told the court he felt he had to “honour” his rendezvous.

• A disturbing encounter with one of Gisèle Pelicot’s 50 alleged rapists

Gisèle Pelicot, who had spent the past decade in and out of doctors’ waiting rooms trying to understand why she was suffering from persistent blackouts, memory loss and gynaecological issues, was called into the police station on November 2, 2020. There she was told about what the man she had met aged 19 — the same man who would drive her to her medical appointments — had been doing to her.

Over the following weeks, she bounced between her three adult children’s houses. She would spend hours walking alone, asking an imaginary Dominique Pelicot “why?” and sometimes simply screaming.

Craving solitude, she moved to a village where nobody knew her and where, once the details of the case began to emerge in the press, she would hear people expressing incredulity at the idea that this anonymous woman could not have known what was happening to her. After going public, she has been inundated with messages from people she had long since lost touch with. “She replies to everyone,” said Babonneau. “She’s exhausted.”

On Monday it was her children’s turn to testify. David Pelicot, 50, a sales manager from outside Paris, told the court how he had repeatedly vomited when he found out. Within two days, the children had cleared every trace of their father — even family photos — from the house. “It feels like my childhood has been erased,” he said.

The Pelicots’ only daughter, Caroline Darian, 45, believes she too was the victim of attacks after photographs of her in underwear she did not recognise were found on her father’s computer. He denies that he ever “touched her”.

Caroline Darian wept in court and accused her father, Dominique Pelicot, of abusing her

AFP

Tensions erupted this week as Pelicot was given a final chance to address the allegations, which he again refuted. “It hurts to see her like this,” he said, from his glass box on the other side of the courtroom. “I would love to see her, I would love to talk to her.”

The pair had by all accounts enjoyed a close relationship until four years ago, yet Darian’s final words to her father were clear. “I will never come see you. Never. You will die alone like a dog,” she shouted.

The courtroom drama ground on, with Dominique staring at the ground and Caroline leaning her head against the wall as tears streamed down her cheeks. Gisèle, whose stoicism throughout the trial had hardly wavered, was also crying.

Amid the circus, sat a broken family saying goodbye.

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DISPATCH FROM AVIGNON

A disturbing encounter with one of Gisèle Pelicot’s 50 alleged rapists

As his wife quietly serves coffee, a nurse charged at the trial in Avignon tries to portray himself as a victim

Defendants come from all over France, ranging in age from 26 to 74

ILLUSTRATION BY PETE BAKER

Katie Tarrant

and Ella Joyner, Avignon

Sunday September 22 2024, 12.01am BST, The Sunday Times

In a suburb of Avignon, on a street of squat, pastel-coloured houses, a nurse in his fifties sits on a sagging grey sofa. In the kitchen, within earshot, his wife prepares coffee.

“I make no illusions to myself about the sentence,” he says, toying with an unlit cigarette between his fingers. “I know that I am being led to the abattoir.”

The man is an alleged rapist. He is one of the 50 men charged with raping Gisèle Pelicot, the woman at the centre of a trial that has shocked France — prompting protests and raising uncomfortable questions over apparent latent misogyny in provincial society.

Dozens of men, a cross section of suburban life — firemen, a soldier, an electrician, a journalist — their ages ranging from 26 to 74, were invited by Dominique, 71, then Pelicot’s husband, to assault her at their home while she was drugged and unconscious. Dominique is among the accused.

Dominique Pelicot is among the defendants acknowledging their guilt

REUTERS

Pelicot has since likened the way she was treated to “torture”. “I was sacrificed on the altar of vice,” she told the court in Avignon. “They regarded me like a rag doll, like a garbage bag.”

Yet the man sitting opposite us attempts to portray himself as a victim. He rails at length against the justice system, the media, so-called “feminist activists” and the Pelicot family.

Meanwhile, sitting beside him for parts of the discussion, his wife, who has ostensibly stood by him despite his alleged crime, said simply that it was “very hard”, and added quietly while politely serving coffee: “It hurts your heart.”

Families torn apart

The woman learnt of her husband’s arrest in 2021 when she received reams of missed calls from local police. “I wept,” she recalled. Reluctant to speak altogether, she declined to say more. Several times, when her husband grew particularly agitated, she urged him to lower his voice.

Behind each of the 50 men, including Dominique, is a family torn apart. The accused nurse’s wife’s dream of adopting a child lies in tatters. “My second month in prison, a baby gets assigned to us,” the defendant tells us. “I got an email with a picture of the baby. It was my wife’s dream, my dream, finally happening. But I couldn’t. I was in prison,” he said.

He conceded penetrating Pelicot while being filmed but, like many other defendants, claims he was not sure if she was unconscious or pretending to be. The defendant, like others, argued that he had been duped by Dominique Pelicot to believe his unconscious wife was participating in a sex game. He expressed a degree of sympathy for her. Mainly, however, he cast himself as the victim of an intricate conspiracy carefully engineered by her ex-husband.

A mural in Paris for Gisèle Pelicot says that shame should be felt by rapists, not their victims

GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Of the defendants, a handful were living in villages near the commune of Mazan, the home of Gisèle and Dominique Pelicot, while others travelled from towns and villages up to 400 miles away.

Just a few streets away from the nurse lives another defendant, a pensioner, in a modest bungalow with a black iron gate, who tells us his adult children had received threats. His son had dealt with the blows to a certain extent, according to the 74-year-old. “It’s my little girl who has taken it very badly,” he said of his daughter.

Denials and outrage over defence

As the men, who requested not to be named to respect the privacy of their wider family, awaited their moment of reckoning at the courthouse, two men had already done so. On Thursday, Lionel Rodriguez, 44, and Jacques Cubeau, 72, climbed the court steps dressed in hoods, caps and masks to hide their faces.

Rodriguez, a supermarket worker, admitted in court that he had raped Pelicot in December 2018. His admission came with a caveat. “I never told myself, ‘I will rape that woman,’” he told the court, but he admitted: “I’m guilty of rape.”

Cubeau, a white-haired father of two and a retired fireman and truck driver, denied the charge of aggravated rape.

The defence strategies deployed in court have also caused outrage. Earlier, one lawyer, Guillaume de Palma, who is representing several defendants, was decried in parts of the French press for a particular phrase: “There is rape and rape, and without intention, there is no rape.”

Upon hearing these words, Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian reportedly got up and left the court’s audience room.

The perceived lack of empathy towards Pelicot has caused outrage and an outpouring of solidarity. She has taken defence lawyers to task, accusing them of humiliating her and treating her as if she were the one on trial. On Friday morning, she was welcomed by a round of applause as she entered the courthouse. Dozens of women, and some men, of all ages queued to get a coveted place in the public transmission room.

Bernadette, 74, said she was coming because she was interested in the psychology of those involved. “And, of course, to support Gisèle Pelicot, who is a woman of absolutely remarkable dignity,” she added. The audience in court is rapt, said Bernadette, who has attended a dozen times. “You can feel that there’s a sense of amazement at times when you listen to the testimony and the questions. The defence lawyers are very, very tough.”

Standing near her are women of different ages. There is a clear sense of camaraderie. One of them is Luna Pasquier, 19, a student. “I’m here today to support Ms Pelicot,” she says. “A trial like this, everyone should experience it. I think it’s important to know what can happen, to realise the nature of certain people and that unfortunately the world isn’t all rosy.”

Of the 50 defendants, some, including Dominique himself, are acknowledging their guilt and pursuing a strategy of co-operation, Charlotte Dubois, a professor of law at Paris Panthéon-Assas University, explained.

Others were denying their guilt on the materiality of the case — for example, that they had performed cunnilingus on Gisèle Pelicot but no acts of penetration, Dubois said. Until a 2021 reform of French law, only penetration constituted rape. Cunnilingus, for example, would instead be classed as sexual aggression.

But most of the accused were instead contesting “the mental element” of the offence, Dubois said. To be convicted, perpetrators must be aware of the lack of consent. “Without the mental element, there is no offence, so the accused must be acquitted.”

Women have travelled to the courthouse from across France to watch the trial and demonstrate

CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The lives of women close to the defendants have also been upturned. The defence lawyer Isabelle Crépin-Dehaene said her clients’ wives were terrified. One had experienced an attempted break-in. Another had stopped going to work for the past two weeks and had heard people standing outside her house shouting “Rapist!”

Crépin-Dehaene, who is defending at least two of the accused, said she had never known a situation like this. “It feels like any day, potentially, something serious could happen. Someone’s going to get stabbed,” she said. “Someone’s going to get physically attacked, a house could burn down.”

Dominique’s ‘disciple’

Testimonies provided to French investigators by the close friends and family of the accused provide differing accounts of the impact on the women surrounding these men.

One of the defendants, Jean-Pierre Maréchal, 63, has become known as Dominique’s “disciple”, having drugged his own wife and raped or attempted to rape her at least a dozen times with Dominique between 2015 and 2020.

Maréchal’s wife told investigators that she did not want to press charges as a civil complainant against Dominique or her husband, the father of her five teenage and adult children, because he had always been a good father and husband. She said that she was very shocked and had difficulty attributing the facts of the case to him.

• Gisèle Pelicot and what we know about the men in mass rape trial

Gisèle Pelicot waived her right to anonymity so details of the case could be heard in public

THE MEGA AGENCY

The picture painted by the family and friends of Nicolas François, 42, a businessman and journalist from Avignon, is of a man whose relationships with women were never questioned, and of someone who is hard-working, loyal and funny. Raised as an only child in a close-knit family home, François became a pillar of his community, investigators have heard, as president of one of the local youth groups.

It was noted, however, that he was discreet about his private life. He was charged with rape and possession of child sexual abuse material.

Christian Lescole, 55, a fireman and the father of two daughters, is also described as having grown up surrounded by loving parents. He remained heavily involved in his daughters’ lives after splitting from their mother. After his arrest, it was reported that he had maintained a good relationship with his ex-partner and appears to have remained with his partner who he was with at the time of his alleged crime.

He visited a now-defunct website, where he communicated with Dominique, daily during work hours so as not to arouse his partner’s suspicion, investigators heard. When perpetrating the alleged rape, Lescole was dressed on his top half in his firefighter’s uniform, according to analysis of the video of the alleged rape recorded by Dominique. He was also charged with rape and possession of child sexual abuse material.

Others were more isolated, characterised in reports as having experienced childhood trauma and alcoholism.

What next?

After the judge hears dozens more testimonies and is shown many more videos, the trial of Dominique and his co-defendants is scheduled to conclude in late December.

Whatever the outcome of the trial, questions will linger. Many will ask themselves how many people declined his invitations but did not raise the alarm with authorities. There are also thought to be many more men in recordings of the alleged rape who have not yet been identified.

There is no question mark, however, over what Pelicot thinks of all those who are accused of violating her. “These men are degenerates,” she said in court last week. “They committed rape.”

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