AVIGNON, France — A mammoth rape trial in France entered a new phase Monday as prosecutors began spelling out the verdicts and punishments they want for dozens of men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband.
After almost three months of hearings, the trial of the 51 accused in Avignon, in the south of the country, is beginning to end. Pelicot’s courage during this harrowing procedure helped make her an icon, even beyond France, for activists fighting against sexual violence.
The prosecution began Monday by focusing on Dominique Pelicot, the man to whom Gisèle Pelicot, 71, was married for nearly 50 years and whom she considered a loving and attentive husband.
But he admitted that for years he mixed sedatives into her food and drinks so he could rape her and also invite dozens of strangers he recruited online to rape her as well.
Prosecutor Laure Chabaud asked the panel of judges for the maximum possible sentence for aggravated rape – 20 years – against the victim’s current ex-husband. Dominique Pelicot, who turns 72 this week, looked at the ground, one hand on the handle of his cane, while the prosecutor spoke.
“Twenty years within the four walls of a prison,” she said. “It’s both a lot and not enough.”
The court is expected to deliver its verdict by December 20.
Gisèle Pelicot, who waived her right to anonymity, insisted that graphic footage of the rapes filmed by her husband be shown in the courtroom, showing her to be unconscious and inert, audibly snoring.
“This woman was you, Madame Gisèle Pelicot, an ordinary woman,” declared prosecutor Jean-François Mayet, turning to her, praising her courage and her desire to change sides of shame so that she falls on the rapists and not on their victims.
He noted that Monday also marked the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and said France faced “a long road ahead for our society to change its view of rape culture “.
Gisèle Pelicot sat quietly, sometimes staring at the ceiling, as prosecutors explained how Dominique Pelicot collected and carefully cataloged a library of 20,000 photos and videos of abuse that spanned nearly a decade. Evidence he stored on hard drives, USB drives and phones has led investigators to identify dozens of men he recruited, although around 20 others have yet to be identified.
All the accused, except one, are on trial for aggravated rape or attempted rape. In previous testimony, she said they treated her “like a rag doll, like a trash bag.”
“When was the question of Madame Pélicot’s consent asked? Not before. Not during,” Mayet said.
Members of the public hoping to attend the trial and lining up outside booed some defendants as they entered the courthouse, shouting “We recognize you” and “Shame.” The banners that activists hung in front of the building read “20 years for each of them” and “rape is rape.”
Gisèle Pelicot was greeted outside with cheers and applause.
“We feel that it does him good. And it does us good too, because it really makes a difference in terms of feminism,” said Chantal Crémont, a supporter from the West of France.
She added: “It’s revolutionary in a way. When she says that shame changes sides, that’s it. She presents herself as the victim and turns the situation around. It’s very important.”
The prosecutors described one by one the rapes that Dominique Pelicot’s co-defendants allegedly committed on his unconscious wife and with her help and notably demanded that they not make noise and first warm their hands so as not to wake her. .
There are so many defendants and alleged rapes that prosecutors had to take three days to summarize the evidence and detail the verdicts and sentences they want. In the first cases that prosecutors focused on Monday, after requesting 20 years in prison for Dominique Pelicot, they requested sentences of 10 years or more for the co-defendants also tried for rape or attempted rape.
Dominique Pelicot has already tearfully admitted in court that he was guilty of the allegations made against him. He said all of his co-defendants understood exactly what they were doing when he invited them to his home in Provence between 2011 and 2020 to have sex with his unconscious and unwitting wife, who divorced him after learning what he had done to her. He had no difficulty finding dozens of men to participate.
In previous testimony, many defendants told the court they could not imagine Dominique Pelicot drugging his wife and were told she was willingly participating in a perverted fantasy.
Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, considered that the prosecution’s request to obtain the maximum sentence against him was justified “taking into account the seriousness of the facts and the seriousness of the facts with which he is accused”.
“There’s no surprise in asking for 20 years, and that’s what I personally expected. But this remains a shocking and heavy sentence for a man who will be 72 in a few days,” she said.
Prime Minister Michel Barnier, speaking in Paris at a center for women victims of violence, said: “The French were deeply touched by the incredible courage of Gisèle Pelicot. This ongoing trial concerns us all. »
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AP journalist Sylvie Corbet contributed from Paris.
