Roger Arata, the president of the Vaucluse departmental criminal court, specified that the trial could be “adjourned” if the health of the main accused remains poor.
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![A drawing of the main accused in the Mazan rape case, Dominique Pelicot, during a hearing at the Avignon court (Vaucluse), September 11, 2024. (BENOIT PEYRUCQ / AFP)](https://www.francetvinfo.fr/pictures/vVrXPplyxM1tyhunGbRkMwJbsdI/0x0:2761x1551/432x243/2024/09/12/000-36g296j-66e2fdc3a0c7b373308714.jpg)
The Mazan rape trial, which is taking place in Avignon, is suspended until Monday, September 16, Roger Arata announced on Thursday.the president of the Vaucluse departmental criminal court. Dominique Pelicot’s state of health is in question, according to the same source. The main accused has been absent from the hearings since the beginning of the week.
If the septuagenarian were “permanently unavailable”the case would then be “sent back”added the magistrate, referring to the suspension of this trial, which began on September 2 and was scheduled to last until December, and its postponement to a later date.On Thursday morning, the proceedings resumed in Avignon, in the absence of Dominique Pelicot but also of his family, his ex-wife, always present since the beginning of this extraordinary trial on September 2, and his three children. The civil parties were represented only by their lawyers on Thursday morning.