Mazan rapes: homosexual relations with Dominique, domestic violence, “victim” of a plot… 5 accused tried this week

The Mazan rape trial resumes on October 7, 2024 at the Avignon court. The cases of five defendants will be studied in the coming days, whose very diverse profiles are already raising questions and causing controversy.

The horror trial resumes this Monday. In the dock this week: five individuals aged 40 to 74, tried for aggravated rape in the sordid Pelicot affair, reports France bleu.

They are among the 50 men, in addition to Gisèle Pelicot's husband, who allegedly raped the sixty-year-old without her knowledge for ten years. The criminal court will examine their case, their defense and their background. While some admit the facts, others deny it, going so far as to claim the existence of a conspiracy.

L’computer scientist

Karim is 40 years old. This computer scientist reportedly went to the Pelicot home once. Exchanges between Karim and Dominique were found, which is rare in this case. They show that Karim must have been aware of Gisèle's chemical submission.

The analysis of his computer equipment also reveals the presence of child pornography images, according to him downloaded "inadvertently". He also did not admit to the rape of which he is accused. He claims that in his eyes, these relationships were “a dirty little game”.

Convicted of violence

Vincent, 40, was known to the police. He had been sentenced to six months in prison for violence against his ex-partner. If he admits “the acts", he does not admit “the facts” of rape.

He would have gone twice to the villa in Mazan. According to his statements to investigators: he knew that Gisèle was sleeping, but he had not considered that she could be drugged, and not consenting.

“Victim” of blackmail

Patrick is 60 years old. While he admits the facts and is one of the few accused to have apologized to Gisèle Pelicot, he explains that he was the victim of blackmail from Dominique.

According to him, he was supposed to have a relationship with the victim's husband. The latter would have accepted, on condition that he first have a sexual relationship with Gisèle. “I am homosexual and I had an appointment with Dominique Pelicot”, he hammered home at the opening of the trial.

He was following the instructions

The same speech was made by the fourth accused, Didier, 68 years old. He also, he told investigators, went to Mazan to have sex with Dominique, not with Gisèle.

Via the salon “Unbeknownst to him”, on the Coco site, he would have agreed to sex “between men” with the victim's husband. Only according to him, he would have let himself be guided by Dominique and would have simply acted according to his instructions.

The dean

Jean-Marc, 74 years old, is the oldest of the accused. A libertine, he also met Dominique Pelicot via the Coco website. Faced with the videos, he claimed that they could have been faked, disputing in particular the timestamp of the recording and a conspiracy.

He also questioned Gisèle's complicity, but later apologized. According to the expert psychologist who saw him, he is in “the impossibility of recognizing the non-consent of the victim and the nature of rape of the acts committed, which are struck by denial, in order to keep the guilt at a distance”.