International
The man who imitated Pelicot admits to having drugged and raped his wife
Jean-Pierre Maréchal, the man who sits on the bench in Avignon for having raped his wife and done it with Dominique Pelicot, whom he imitated in the procedure of subjecting her to a chemical submission, recognizes his full responsibility in the facts.
His lawyer, Patrick Gontard, insisted on Thursday that Maréchal has not tried to evade his responsibility, as shown by the fact that since he was arrested in 2020 he said that he “deserved the maximum, life imprisonment,” despite the fact that the crime of aggravated rape for which he is accused has a maximum penalty of 20 years.
In statements to the press before the hearing in the Criminal Court of Vaucluse (southeast of France), Gontard insisted on the role of “catalyst” that Dominique Pelicot had so that Maréchal, following his instructions, drugged his wife with anxiolytics so that, once in a state of unconsciousness, both men raped her.
The lawyer pointed out that Pelicot, with whom he had established contact through an online messaging and who proposed to resorting to chemical submission as he had been doing for years with his own wife, was for him like “a dynamite cartridge that blew everything up.”
According to his story, he provided her with the medicines and recommended the dosage to administer them with the aim that her partner would lose consciousness and they could abuse her.
The wife maintains the relationship
The lawyer has also pointed out that Pelicot was seven or eight times at his client’s house and the violations were carried out on three of those occasions.
In one of those visits, the woman woke up unexpectedly and surprised the stranger next to her in her room.
The explanations that her husband gave her then, that she had brought him to see her in underwear, did not convince her.
Despite everything, she did not report it even when the case was uncovered, in September 2020.
In her statement this Wednesday before the court, the one who is still Maréchal’s wife explained that she did not denounce him for her children, who have seen their lives upset by these events, and because during their common life he had been “a wonderful man.”
He also acknowledged that he wanted to maintain contact with him, with whom he communicates through his children, and that he even requested to be able to see him in prison so that he would tell him “to his face” what he had done to him.
The psychological exam of the accused
Along with Maréchal and Pelicot, there are 49 others prosecuted in this process for having raped the latter’s wife when she was under the effects of anxiolytics.
Gontard indirectly criticized the defense strategy of most of them, those who deny having known that Gisèle Pelicot was unconscious, by recalling that in French criminal law there is rape from the moment consent is not given to have a sexual relationship.
The lawyer admitted that the relationship with Pelicot was not the only trigger for his client’s criminal behavior, and alluded to several other elements of his life and psychology that could intervene, such as the fact that “he had almost no sex life with his wife” and was “very interested in sex” and to be born into a family marked by the sexual abuse of a violent father.
This and other issues were addressed this Thursday at the hearing by the expert Annabelle Montagne, appointed by the justice for the psychological examination of Maréchal and other defendants.
The big unknown is whether the process will be able to continue next week, due to Pelicot’s absence since Tuesday due to illness. At the outset, there are many chances that Friday’s session will be suspended.
This situation has tensed the atmosphere between lawyers who, such as Pelicot and Maréchal’s, opt for a suspension.
The president of the Court, who has so far tried to maintain the program, has acknowledged today that if the main defendant could not appear from Monday it would be “a catastrophe.”
International
Erin brings strong winds and storm surge despite weakening offshore
Hurricane Erin weakened to a Category 2 storm on Tuesday but continues to pose a threat to parts of the U.S. East Coast with potentially dangerous flooding, according to meteorologists.
Although the hurricane’s eye is expected to remain offshore, experts are concerned about Erin’s size, as strong winds extend hundreds of kilometers beyond the storm’s center.
In its 18:00 GMT bulletin, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) lifted tropical storm warnings for the Bahamasand Turks and Caicos Islands, but kept them in effect for parts of North Carolina.
Erin was located several hundred kilometers southeast of North Carolina and was moving northwestward.
“This means there is a risk of potentially life-threatening flooding of 60 to 120 centimeters above ground level,” said NHC Director Michael Brennan.
He also warned of the possibility of destructive waves, combined with storm surge, that could cause severe damage to beaches and coastal areas, making roads impassable.
International
Three U.S. Warships deploy near Venezuela to combat drug trafficking
Three U.S. naval vessels are moving toward the coasts of Venezuela, according to international media reports on Tuesday, after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump is ready to combat and curb international drug trafficking.
Reports indicate that the ships will reach Venezuelan waters within the next 36 hours as part of a recent U.S. deployment aimed at countering international narcotics operations.
The announcement coincides with Leavitt’s statement that Trump is prepared to “use the full extent of his power” to halt drug flows into the United States. The naval deployment involves approximately 4,000 military personnel.
“The President has been clear and consistent. He is ready to use every element of U.S. power to prevent drugs from flooding our country and to bring those responsible to justice. The Maduro regime is not the legitimate government of Venezuela—it is a narco-terror cartel,” the spokesperson said during a press conference.
International
Cuban authorities free salvadoran convicted in 1997 hotel bombing
Salvadoran national Otto René Rodríguez Llerena was released after serving a 30-year prison sentence for his involvement in a terrorist attack at a hotel in Cuba in 1997, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.
During his trial, Rodríguez Llerena admitted to placing an explosive device at the Meliá Cohiba Hotel under the orders of anti-Castro exile leaders. He was arrested the following year when he returned to Havana with another load of explosives that failed to detonate.
“The Cuban government reiterates its commitment to combating terrorism, respecting human rights, and the need for the international community to hold accountable those who promote such acts,” the statement read.
He was released on August 15 and is the second Salvadoran to complete his sentence. In December of last year, another Salvadoran, Ernesto Cruz León, was released after planting bombs at tourist centers, one of which killed an Italian tourist identified as Fabio Di Celmo.
A third Salvadoran, Francisco Chávez Abarca, also received a 30-year sentence from Cuban courts in 2010 after being extradited from Venezuela through Interpol for actions against Cuba.
Rodríguez Llerena had requested conditional release in 2016, arguing that his actions had not caused any direct fatalities, but no further information was released about his situation until now.
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