Film producer Harvey Weinstein is an "experienced" rapist and sexual predator who used his power to attack vulnerable young actresses, prosecutors said at the start of their trial on Wednesday January 22 in New York, charges immediately dismissed. by defense.

In a tie and dark suit, the ex-Hollywood magnate, 67, the embodiment of what the #MeToo movement intends to fight, listened by shaking his head or passing notes to his lawyers, while prosecutor Meghan Hast described it. like a 135 kilo bully who raped, humiliated and traumatized women for years.

"It will be clear during the trial that the accused knew he was targeting naive and defenseless (women)," said Ms. Hast. "They did not know that he was lying to attract them. They believed that their career was finally taking off. He was like the old lady of the gingerbread house who attracts small children to her house," the prosecutor told a audience hall full to bursting.

Meghan Hast described in detail the assaults suffered by three of the women called to testify at the trial. In particular those of actress Annabella Sciorra, of the series "Les Soprano", who accuses Harvey Weinstein of having raped her in 1993 after having made her "addicted" to valium. "He left her emotionally and physically broken, unconscious on the floor," says Meghan Hast.

As for Mimi Haleyi, a former production assistant whom Mr. Weinstein is accused of having sexually assaulted in 2006, he left her "inanimate, like a dead fish," said the prosecutor.

"Rag doll"

The third woman cited Wednesday morning, who accuses Harvey Weinstein of raping her in 2013, was identified for the first time as Jessica Mann, an actress seen in the comedy "Cavemen". Mr. Weinstein treated her like a "rag doll", according to the prosecutor. The alleged assaults on Mimi Haleyi and Jessica Mann are the only ones that Mr. Weinstein must answer during this ultra-publicized trial, which will last until March 6.

Annabella Sciorra's testimony - although her alleged assault is too old to be prosecuted - must show that Mr. Weinstein was a proven predator. In total, more than 80 women, including stars like Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow or Léa Seydoux, have accused her since October 2017 of harassment and sexual assault, sometimes at major film festivals like Cannes, Sundance or Toronto . But most of the facts are old and prescribed.

If convicted, this pure-born New Yorker, father of five and divorced twice, risks life. While dozens of powerful men have been accused of sexual assault since October 2017, almost all have escaped criminal prosecution, making the trial of the former film magnate a highly symbolic case.

But the defense has long indicated that it intends to cast doubt on the credibility of the accusers. The facts "are not going to show that Harvey Weinstein was a predator, on the contrary," said one of his lawyers, Damon Cheronis, while entering his oral argument. He noted that the defense had hundreds of emails showing that Jessica Mann and Mr. Weinstein had a "love relationship", and that Mr. Weinstein was "her boyfriend" in 2014, a year after the alleged rape. He also claimed that these accusers remained on good terms with the producer until the first charges against him came out in October 2017. "You will ask yourself: what is going on? Is this man guilty , beyond any doubt? "launched the lawyer to the twelve jurors, five women and seven men.

The prosecution has no physical evidence or direct witness to the alleged assaults.

But the #MeToo movement has had such an impact in the United States for two years - with dozens of powerful men dethroned after alleged sexual abuse that the prosecution hopes jurors will listen to victims more sympathetically before.

With AFP

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