Pélicot case: this video which changed the course of the trial

As the co-accused in the Mazan case paraded before the bar, the presiding judge wanted to limit the broadcasting of videos of the rapes suffered by Gisèle Pélicot. This decision was debated this Friday and the magistrate did not win his case.

The trial in the Mazan rape case continues. The co-accused, tried for “aggravated rape”, parade in court. Gisèle Pèlicot, drugged and handed over by her husband to strangers for years, has decided not to request a closed trial and has agreed to the broadcast of the images of the abuse filmed by her husband. She hopes, through this, to raise awareness about chemical submission and sexual violence. The victim's wishes were, however, questioned by the president of the Vaucluse criminal court, but after the victim's lawyers challenged the conditions of broadcasting were debated this Friday, October 4.

The controversy began on September 19, when a video was first broadcast, found in Dominique Pélicot's files, showing men abusing Giséle Pélicot. Classified under the names “Cunni et pipe Jacques”, “Jacques doigtage” and “Pipe moi”, three short excerpts were broadcast in the courtroom in front of the entire assembly composed of the parties to the trial, but also journalists and people who came to attend the trial. Jacques, the oldest of the co-accused, 72 years old, does not admit to rape but to “sexual assault”. The last video appears to be a forced fellatio by Dominique Pélicot himself. Snoring from the victim, who is apparently unconscious, can be heard on the footage, 20 Minutes reports.

The day after this broadcast, which shook the entire assembly, the president of the court unilaterally decided that only the parties present at the trial could attend the next viewings. This therefore concerns the lawyers of the civil party and the defense as well as the public prosecutor, thus excluding journalists and the public. He also did not want the “sex videos”, as he called them, to be systematically broadcast for each accused, wishing to privilege the “case by case”. “I indicated that videos will be shown if it is necessary for the manifestation of the truth and that At that time, the room will be 'evacuated, the connection with the broadcast room cut off and the broadcasts reserved for the parties and the court', he specified, as reported by BFMTV.

A decision in favour of the defence ?

Gisèle Pélicot's lawyers then, on September 30, contested such a decision. For them, the case relies heavily on these videos, thus making it possible to confront the co-accused with their actions. For the most part, they deny having intentionally raped Gisèle Pélicot and claim to have been set up by her husband. The latter, who under the influence of drugs does not remember anything, wants, for her part, that the videos be broadcast in front of the court and the journalists, but without the public.

On Dominique Pélicot's side, no opposition was expressed. “The broadcast of these videos in the presence of the press remains the responsibility of Mrs. Pelicot, so Mr. Pelicot can only comply with this requirement,” replied her lawyer Me Béatrice Zavarro to France 3 Provence-Alpes, who considers this broadcast “necessary.” Gisèle Pélicot's ex-husband maintains that all the co-accused knew that his wife was drugged without his knowledge. 

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Conversely, the defense rushed into the breach, supporting the decision of the president of the court. “I don't need to see a murder live to know that it's horrific, I have a hard time seeing what that would bring to the debate,” retorted Me Carine Monzat, lawyer for one of the accused. The defense has, in fact, denounced a “nauseating revelation” and an act of “voyeurism”. If the defense opposed the public broadcast of the images, it is because it would be in its interest and that of the accused who plead not guilty” according to the association of the judicial press. “Mr. Arata acceded à a request from some defense lawyers, who of course have every interest in the journalists not being present to see their clients in their works, to throw us out in the name of the "indecent and shocking nature" of the images," the association deplored in a press release.

Not only to serve the defense, the restrictions on the broadcasting of images amount to considering that Gisèle Pélicot is at the origin of a "public disturbance" by refusing to hold a closed hearing, believes journalist and feminist activist Anna Toumazoff on BFMTV. By not broadcasting the images of the abuse "we are hiding the modus operandi" regrets Me Isabelle Steyer, a lawyer specializing in cases of femicide and violence against women. “These videos are what the rapist asks of the raped person. Why would we keep quiet about a rape scene ? This is news because, more broadly, these images destroy the image of the good father of the family” used as a defense by the accused, and more broadly in many rape cases.

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13:30 – The defense tried to maintain the decision

The defense, for its part, argued in favor of the decision of the president of the court. Me Paul-Roger Gontard, the defense's main speaker this Friday, declared: “Is viewing the videos useful for revealing the truth? ? We can consider that it is not.” The defense wanted to avoid a “second trial”, that of the “crowd.” “We are transforming this room into a place of voyeurism. What are you looking for, a platform was not enough for you? Showing chemical submission, a film was not enough for you?”,” became annoyed Me Olivier Lantelme, another defense lawyer, as reported by BFMTV.”

13:23 – The arguments of the victim's lawyers bore fruit

This Friday, Gisèle Pélicot's lawyers won their case on the dissemination of the images. "Rape is so shocking, so unworthy, that in 2024 society is still not ready to look it straight in the eye," wondered Me St&eacutephane Babonneau, Gisèle Pelicot's lawyer, before the court on October 4. They highlighted the crucial nature of the dissemination of the images, in order to avoid "one's word against another's word. : “A perception is subjective. Everyone can have a different one for the same scene. We will never have Gisèle Pelicot's word on this perception, she & was unconscious", recalled Me Antoine Camus, the victim's second lawyer. 

13:11 – The broadcasts of the images will be public

A debate was held this Friday morning before the Vaucluse criminal court following the decision of the president of the court on the dissemination of images, filmed by Dominique Pélicot, of the abuse suffered by his wife. The magistrate wanted it not to be systematic and not accessible to journalists and the public. A decision denounced by Giséle Pélicot's lawyers and the journalists. Finally, the dissemination will be public but not systematic: “the disseminations will not be systematic, only in cases strictly necessary for the manifestation of the truth" (…) these broadcasts will be preceded by an announcement so that any sensitive or minor person can leave the room,” the court announced, as reported by BFMTV.