For the former Hollywood tycoon, the verdict of the New York State Court of Justice looks like a life sentence. Ex-producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced on Wednesday March 11 to 23 years in prison for sexual assault and rape.

The sentence of Manhattan judge James Burke is close to the maximum, twenty-nine years, for the two counts of which Harvey Weinstein was convicted on February 24. Lawyers for the former Hollywood tycoon had asked judge James Burke for a five-year sentence, the legal minimum according to New York state texts.

"Given his age [67 years, note]," they wrote, "any sentence higher than the legal minimum [...] would be equivalent to a life sentence".

The lawyers had argued that, since October 2017, their client had lost his wife, who left him, his job, his company (The Weinstein Company) and still faced constant expressions of hostility.

The defense also mentioned his two young children, 6 and 9 years old. "I may never see my children again," added Harvey Weinstein, who spoke for the first time since the trial began, on Wednesday.

"To make him aware"

During his speech, he presented himself as a victim of the #MeToo movement. "I was the first example and now there are thousands of accused men." And to add: "I am worried about this country".

Opposite were the victims, the six women who testified at the trial, who stood side by side in the front row, a striking image of this trial.

Two of them, Mimi Haleyi and Jessica Mann, whose assault led to the conviction of Harvey Weinstein, spoke to the judge before he announced his decision.

"The incident with Harvey Weinstein changed the course of my life," said Mimi Haleyi, who had to stop, crying, before resuming her speech. "He destroyed part of me."

"I hope that (the sentence) will be long enough for him to realize what he has done, to me and to others, and really repent," concluded the former production assistant, assaulted sexually by the producer in 2006.

Accountable

"I am forced to carry the weight of this experience until I die," said Jessica Mann, referring to the man who "stole (her) body" and "was ultimately held accountable."

"Today I'm not ashamed," said the former aspiring actress, who was raped by Harvey Weinstein. "I was able to express myself. There are no more monsters in my closet."

Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, who led the charge during the trial, had not asked for a specific sentence, requesting from the judge a sentence that reflects "the gravity of the convict's crimes, his complete lack of remorse ... ) and the need to deter him and others from committing new crimes.

At the hearing on Wednesday, she again paid tribute to the victims who testified at the trial. Without them, Harvey Weinstein "could never have been stopped".

She noted the "lack of empathy" and "selfishness" of the independent producer.

Harvey Weinstein never publicly acknowledged anything other than consensual relationships with the women who accused him and, in fact, did not express any remorse or apologize.

Harvey Weinstein's lawyers have already indicated that their client will appeal the conviction, which will not prevent him from being immediately detained.

No one knows for the moment which New York State prison the co-founder of the Miramax studio will serve his sentence, but probably not at the infamous Rikers Island, where he is currently imprisoned, and rather intended to defendants awaiting trial.

For the #MeToo movement, which the Weinstein affair gave birth to, the victory is already certain. She played with the guilty verdict, although the jury exonerated her from three of the five most serious charges.

"I will not recover these years of my life, but I now have this little hope of having an existence in front of me, which I did not have yesterday," said, the day after the verdict, to journalist Ronan Farrow, l actress Rose McGowan, who accuses Harvey Weinstein of raping her.

Harvey Weinstein is yet to face another charge for two sexual assaults in Los Angeles, announced in early January.

With AFP

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