The video of Dominique Pelicot and Jacques C. abusing a completely lifeless Gisèle Pelicot, broadcast the day before, was still fresh in people's minds when the general counsel, Jean-François Mayet, rose to speak at the hearing's opening on Friday, September 20. "Without these videos, there wouldn't be this trial, because Mrs. Pelicot doesn't remember anything, and, even if she remembered a fragment of what she was allegedly a victim of, her word would have been challenged. I therefore hope that, for all the defendants, the images most representative of what may have happened will be viewed by the court, for those who contest as well as for those who acknowledge." Unease in the docks.
Initially, only the videos of those denying the facts were to be viewed. However, since those acknowledging the facts often deny having the intention of committing them, and since some claim that their only fault was that they were slow to realize the abnormality of the situation, the general counsel believes that broadcasting of the videos will make it possible to dispel certain doubts.
Stéphane Babonneau, Gisèle Pelicot's lawyer, supports the request: "Some defendants explain: 'During the acts, I didn't feel well, but I didn't feel I was committing a rape, it was only afterward that I realized it.' They need to be able to explain how, at the time they carried out these acts, they didn't think they were committing rape."
'Indecent and shocking'
Dominique Pelicot's lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, had no objection. Her colleagues defending the 50 co-defendants disagreed, and several rose to cry outrage. "The general counsel's request is not for your court," said one co-defendant, "It's for all those out there who seek to drink of the blood that may flow from this justice!" Another one said: "Justice doesn't need a nauseating pornocriminal debunking that borders on a certain form of voyeurism. Dignity is that of the plaintiffs, but also that of each defendant."
After a quarter of an hour's consideration, Roger Arata, president of the criminal court, in Avignon, southern France, made a decision: "The broadcasts will not be systematic, they will be made at the request of one or other of the parties, with the sole aim of revealing the truth. Considering that these images are indecent and shocking, they will be broadcast in the sole presence of the parties and the court, and I will have the room cleared out." He continued, "These images are indecent and shocking."
The press, initially authorized to attend the video broadcast, unlike the public, is no longer allowed. Gisèle Pelicot had refused to hold the trial behind closed doors. The president imposed it on her for a crucial part of the hearing, namely the study of the evidence constituted by these videos. "This is a trial that has the power to change society," said Babonneau, at the recess, "but, to do that, we need to have the courage to confront what rape really is, in a case, precisely, where it's exceptional to have the precise and real representation of what rape is, and not just a description on a transcript."
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