This Thursday, the verdict will fall for the 51 accused in the Mazan rape trial. Certain murky areas in the case could still remain.
This Thursday, December 19, from 9:30 a.m., the Vaucluse criminal court delivers the verdict in the Mazan rape trial. 51 men are in the dock, including Dominique Pélicot who is accused of having raped his wife and having handed her over to strangers. After almost three months of an extraordinary trial, the sentence will fall for each of them. Sentences of between 4 and 20 years of criminal imprisonment were requested for the men accused of having raped or sexually assaulted Gisèle Pélicot while she was unconscious. A major security system has been put in place for this day: 150 police officers and gendarmes are deployed around the court to prevent excesses.
The president of the criminal court, Roger Arata, will announce the decision for each of the accused, concerning their guilt, then depending on the sentence pronounced. The vote was by secret ballot, with the majority winning. If a sentence is imposed, the accused will be handcuffed and taken directly to the court’s jails before being taken into custody. According to BFMTV, Dominique Pélicot could be the first to learn of his conviction, risking a 20-year prison sentence. His wife will be in the courtroom to hear the verdict, as will the couple’s three children and their two daughters-in-law.
Suspicions of incest, accused on the run, these points which remain unanswered
However, certain gray areas persist in this matter. First of all, the affair of the photos of Pélicot’s daughter in underwear has not been resolved. During his interrogation, Dominique Pélicot denied having taken his photos and having abused his daughter Caroline Darian. The latter wondered if her father had not used the same process as with her mother by drugging her, ensuring that she never slept in the position seen in the photo, or even if he had not not also taken to her physically. This question could remain, for the moment, unanswered. Photos of Dominique Pélicot’s daughters-in-law were also found in the latter’s files.
Concerning the other co-accused, one of them is missing. Hassan O., 30, could not be arrested as he is now in Morocco. An arrest warrant was then issued against him, “tantamount to indictment” for aggravated rape. He was identified on one of the videos on Dominique Pélicot’s computer. Despite his absence from the trial, the accused risks a conviction in absentia. It is also a question of whether all the men who attacked Gisèle Pélicot were identified and therefore brought to justice, as Libération raises.
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09:27 – Gisèle Pélicot arrived in court to applause
While the verdict should not be long in coming, Gisèle Pelicot arrived at the Avignon courthouse, surrounded by her two lawyers Mes Camus and Babonneau. She was applauded by the audience outside the building. His children are also present and the first accused have entered the courtroom.