Two defendants in the French mass rape trial ask for leniency
Avignon (France) (AFP) – A lawyer for one of the men charged in a mass rape case in France pleaded for leniency on Tuesday, saying his client did not deserve the 14-year prison sentence sought by prosecutors.
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The 46-year-old defendant, a blue-collar worker identified only as Jean-Luc L., is among dozens of foreigners whom the main suspect, Dominique Pelicot, admitted signing up to rape his then-wife while she was drugged unconscious.
Prosecutors have sought a prison sentence of up to 20 years for 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot, who has been on trial along with 50 other men in the southern city of Avignon since September for organizing the repeated rape and sexual abuse of Gisele Pelicot. now 71.
They also sought prison sentences of between 10 and 18 years for 49 of the 50 co-defendants, with only one case seeking a four-year sentence.
Jean-Luc L.’s lawyer, Jordan Preynet, told the court that his client, who is accused of taking part in two rape sessions at Pelicot’s home, had not done even “a tenth of what Dominique Pelicot did” and that he should not have done so. be punished so severely.
Jean-Luc L. stated shortly after his arrest that he was not aware that his actions amounted to rape because he had been told what to do by Dominique Pelicot – an argument that chief prosecutor Laure Chabaud rejected last week as an argument of consent by proxy “from another era”.
His lawyer said he admitted early on to rape and asked the victim for forgiveness.
The lawyer pointed out the lack of any previous conviction for his client, adding that he received both psychological and psychiatric treatment.
“You won’t just be judging a rapist in this case,” the lawyer said, “you’ll be judging the man he was, and the man he will be.”
According to the lawyer, Jean-Luc L. returned to the Pelicot house for a second hearing out of fear that Dominique Pelicot might use the footage he had filmed the first time if he did not show up, and also because “he is weak and it’s hard to say no.”
Charlotte Bres, who represents another of the accused men – an IT worker identified only as Cedric G. – argued that her client also did not deserve the 16-year prison sentence recommended by the prosecutor.
Cedric G. had admitted to the rape, she said, but felt Dominique Pelicot should take most of the blame, calling him “the ringleader” of the mass rapes.
Dominique Pelicot’s decade-long abuse only came to light after he was arrested for filming women’s skirts in public.
The investigation led investigators to his carefully kept records of visitors to the family home in the city of Mazan.
Their trial has sent shockwaves through France and made his ex-wife Gisele Pelicot a feminist icon in the fight against sexual abuse as he insisted the hearings be held in public.
Closing arguments in the case are expected to run until December 13 and the verdict is expected on December 20.
© 2024 AFP
