Mazan rape trial | Husband, main accused, is hospitalized

(Avignon) Dominique Pelicot – accused of having drugged and raped his wife by dozens of men recruited on the internet – was due to speak for the first time on Tuesday at his trial in the south of France but was hospitalised, which could lead to a suspension of the trial.

“He is in hospital today,” explained his lawyer, M.^e Beatrice Zavarro, at midday on this seventh day of hearing where her client was to be heard for the first time, in Avignon, in the south of France, in the afternoon.

Faced with this announcement, the president of the court, Roger Arata, ordered a forensic examination of the health of the accused and repeated that he could request the suspension of the trial, “until his condition improves.”

As soon as the hearing opened on Tuesday, noting the new absence of the accused, who had been ill since Monday, the magistrate had mentioned an interruption of this extraordinary trial for several days.

“It would make no sense to continue without his presence, because a criminal trial is not held without the presence of an accused,” confirmed Mr.^e Zavarro.

A position shared by the civil parties. “Mrs. Pelicot, like her children, does not wish to testify without her presence,” one of their lawyers, Mr.^e Stéphane Babonneau, before the officialization of this hospitalization. “There is an absolute necessity that Mr. Pelicot be taken care of medically and that he be able to attend the debates,” he added.

On Monday morning, Dominique Pelicot, 71, appeared very weak as he entered his box, aided by his cane but also leaning against the window. His lawyer had indicated that he was suffering from intestinal pain.

These pains “for which he did not necessarily receive treatment over the 48 hours of the weekend” would have started on Friday, specified Mr.^e Zavarro on Tuesday, assuring that it was not a maneuver on the part of his client.

“I heard things in the courtroom this morning suggesting that his absence was clearly on purpose. Not at all! To be very clear, Mr. Pelicot did not shirk. Mr. Pelicot will not shirk. Mr. Pelicot will be there, he will answer all the questions,” she insisted.

“Dirty work”

According to her, there is no risk hanging over the trial: “the four-month schedule was wide enough, I hope, to be able to schedule a possible catch-up of the sequences that will not have taken place.”

Accused of having drugged, raped and had his wife raped by dozens of men recruited on the internet, from July 2011 to October 2020, mainly at their home in Mazan (south of the country). Dominique Pelicot therefore did not hear the testimony of Stéphan Gal on Tuesday morning, the second director of investigation of this sprawling case for which he is being tried alongside 50 other men, aged 26 to 74.

A deposition during which the investigator confirmed the statements of a colleague interviewed last week: in view of the thousands of photos and videos of the events meticulously recorded and classified by her now ex-husband, none of the attackers “could be unaware that Gisèle Pelicot was unconscious.”

“Some of them came back several times from elsewhere, and all of them could not have been unaware that she was in a state of deep unconsciousness, to come and carry out their dirty work,” he said.

Referring to the interrogation of one of the accused, Mathieu D., alias “Gaston”, 62 years old, during the investigation, the police officer explained that he “knew that Dominique Pelicot was going to put his wife to sleep”: “But he thought it was part of a ‘sex game’. He said that it had been presented to him ‘like a scenario and that he had rushed in, naively, head down'”.

This is the main question of this trial, where 35 of the 51 accused admit to the sexual acts but deny the intention to rape, claiming to have been “manipulated” by Mr. Pelicot.

Several experts heard on Monday had mentioned the main accused’s tendency “to consider the other as an object that can be manipulated.”

This extraordinary trial continues to generate enormous interest, as evidenced by the growing number of journalists from all over the world present in Avignon, but also by the public who now gather daily to watch the broadcasts of the hearings in an adjoining room.

Gisèle Pelicot had announced from the start of the trial that she wanted the debates to be “public” so that her case would serve as an “example” for other victims of chemical submission.

On Tuesday, about fifty people were able to enter this annex room where the debates are broadcast on three screens. And about thirty others, law students or feminist activists, were waiting for a place to become available.

This audience, men and women of all ages, remained silent, some widening their eyes or placing a hand over their mouth, when the investigator heard in the morning described without avoiding the most graphic details the events that took place in the Pelicot couple’s bedroom.