Mr M. is brought before the judges of the court in Créteil for sexually harassing a woman in Choisy Park and beating her husband. Although he has no criminal record, he is brought before the court immediately due to his illegal residence in France and faces a severe sentence: the public prosecutor demands ten months’ imprisonment with an arrest warrant.
More specifically, 32-year-old Mr M. is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Choisy Park, then beating her husband, relapsing and consuming cannabis.
The presiding judge refers to the statements made by Mrs G., who describes the following scene: After spending some time with relatives in the Parc de Choisy, she decided to go home and started walking to leave the park. After a few steps, she felt followed and turned around when Mr M. touched her genitals with his hand, focusing on her buttocks without penetrating her. She assures him that she hit him on the shoulder, to which he replied: ‘I want you, you’. Mrs G. immediately called her husband, who had remained in the park, who rushed over and is said to have been hit by Mr M.: ‘He kept coming at my husband, who hit him back with his fists.’ The couple call the police, who arrest Mr M…
For the last hearing of the day, the benches of the 12th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Créteil have emptied: only the judges, the lawyers for the defence and the joint plaintiffs, the defendant, his interpreter and a journalist are still present.
Unless my memory fails me, we saw each other on May 14th of this year and you promised me that we would never see each other again…’, the judge starts.
Finally, the defence lawyer has the floor. He stands up and says: ‘There is still a lot to be done in educating men, especially if they come from Pakistan. This one is the result of a patriarchal system, this culture where forced marriage is still practised.’ The lawyer develops his line of defence for several minutes, focusing on the cultural gap between the laws of the country where Mr M. is on trial and the customs of his country of origin.
In order to create empathy for his client, he also mentions his ‘frustrated sex life’ using very specific elements: he was 25 years old when he had his first sexual relationship – with a prostitute – and his last sexual intercourse was several months ago. The lawyer assures that his client has now understood the lesson well, which he summarises clumsily: ‘You have to approach the woman first before you touch her. The lawyer demands a lenient sentence with simple probation, for which his client is eligible, and an acquittal in relation to the violence against Mr G. To help Mr M. ‘better control his sexual impulses’ and treat his alcohol addiction, he also demands a commitment to medical treatment.
(…)
After a break for deliberation, the court found Mr M. guilty on all three counts (sexual assault, violence, cannabis use) and sentenced him to eight months’ imprisonment with an arrest warrant and a ten-year ban on residing in France. He must pay 2,000 and 200 euros to Mrs G. and Mr G. respectively.
But I’m not in a position to pay,’ says the defendant and seems to sincerely regret it.
There is an organisation, Sarvi, that will pay for you, and if you stay in France, you have to pay back.
And after eight months in prison, I’ll be deported?
That’s another organisation that takes care of that.
The lawyer seems also to be making a defence for banning male immigration from Pakistan.