Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault and rape which some readers may find distressing.
Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer has explained why she agreed to defend him despite the horrific crimes he was accused of.
The Frenchman was found to be one of the worst sexual predators in history, having repeatedly drugged his wife, Gisele, and invited strangers from the internet to rape and sexually assault her while she was unconscious.
The 72-year-old plead guilty last December and at the end of the historic trial, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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Now said to be his only visitor while he remains in solitary confinement, Béatrice Zavarro has now written a book about her experience as Pelicot’s lawyer, something that earned her the grim nickname of ‘Devil’s Advocate’.
“There is a before and after Pelicot,” the 55-year-old told The Guardian. “I’ve tried to get back to a normal life but there is a difference.”
Having said to the disgraced sex offender that it was ‘you and me against the world’ while in court, Zavarro was met by threats for defending him. But she has been clear that she ‘defending the man, not his crimes’ and simply accepted the case because she is ‘a lawyer’.
She believes she can say she knows Pelicot ‘better than anyone, including his own family’ as she claims he has accepted his situation with ‘fatalism’.
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When he was detained in prison, he wrote to the lawyer to ask if she would represent him in the mass rape trial.
“At the beginning, I didn’t know exactly what he had done. I was given the list of alleged charges and saw there were quite a few offences, but I had no details,” she explained.
“My first impression of him was a grandfather, a sort of Father Christmas figure. He was clearly intelligent and communicated in a crystal clear, simple way. At that first meeting, he told me everything.”
When she accepted the case, it was assumed the trial would be held with no press or public present.
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Zavarro explained: “I accepted because I am a lawyer. I was very clear: I defended the man, not what he did. I did not seek to justify what he did, but to explain. I understand some lawyers might have refused the case, but my position was that I had taken an oath as a lawyer and this position was right.
“If he had decided to plead not guilty, or go for an acquittal, which would have been astonishing given the evidence, I’d have still taken the case but would have written to him outlining the risks he was running. And I’d have asked if he was joking.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 500 222, available 24/7. If you are currently in danger or need urgent medical attention, you should call 999.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
Topics: Crime, World News, Europe
Jess Battison