Mazan rapes: Dominique Pelicot will be present at the hearing this Monday, but the continuation of the Avignon trial remains uncertain

Gisèle Pelicot is expected to testify again this week to tell what she suffered. MIDI LIBRE

Dominique Pelicot, 71, who is appearing for aggravated rape with 50 other co-accused before the Vaucluse criminal court, was absent from the proceedings all week, due to acute health problems. If he is not able to appear and answer questions, the trial could be suspended, or even definitively postponed until 2025.

Dominique Pelicot, 71, who has been ill for over a week, should be present this Monday, September 16, at the resumption of the trial in the Mazan rape case, where he appears with 50 other co-accused before the Vaucluse criminal court, but uncertainty persists over the continuation of the hearings, learned Midi Libre from a reliable source.

Sick for a week, the septuagenarian, a key figure in this lengthy trial which opened for four months on September 2, was excused from the hearing all week by the president, who suspended the proceedings on Thursday evening, due to being unable to hear him. He is accused of having drugged his wife for more than ten years, then having strangers recruited via a website come to abuse her while she was unconscious, while he himself photographed and filmed these scenes, which the police found in his computer equipment.

In pajamas and feverish on Saturday in the visiting room

“He arrived in pajamas, feverish, his condition is not improving” declared his lawyer Béatrice Zavarro on Saturday, who went to the visiting room to see him. Dominique Pelicot obtained a consultation at the hospital in the middle of the week and is taking medication for his condition which had “worsened” on Wednesday, as announced by the president of the criminal court of Vaucluse. He is also said to have been receiving treatment again this Sunday.

If his condition has improved and he is able to give evidence, he should be questioned at length about his life and the facts he is accused of. The rest of the week should be devoted to the statements of Gisèle, his wife, and his three children. Four of his co-accused should also be questioned. If his condition has not improved, the hearing could be suspended for a few more days, or even postponed completely, due to lack of certainty about his recovery.