Man accused of drugging wife so dozens of men could rape her testifies in French court : NPR

AVIGNON, France — A person accused of drugging his then-wife and alluring dozens of males to rape her over almost a decade is testifying in court docket on Tuesday in southern France, in a case that has shocked the nation.

Dominique Pélicot, now 71, faces 20 years in jail if convicted. Whereas he beforehand confessed to investigators, the court docket testimony might be essential for the panel of judges to resolve on the destiny of some 50 different males standing trial alongside him, all accused of raping Gisèle Pélicot.

Many additionally hope his testimony will shed some gentle — to attempt to perceive the unthinkable.

Gisèle Pélicot has turn into a logo of the battle in opposition to sexual violence in France for agreeing to waive her anonymity within the case, letting the trial be public, and showing overtly in entrance of the media. She is predicted to talk in court docket after her ex-husband’s testimony on Tuesday.

Below French regulation, the proceedings contained in the courtroom can’t be filmed or photographed. Dominique Pélicot is delivered to the court docket by a particular entrance inaccessible for the media, as a result of he and another defendants are being held in custody through the trial. Defendants who are usually not in custody come to the trial carrying surgical masks or hoods to keep away from having their faces filmed or photographed.

Bernadette Tessonière, a 69-year-old retiree who lives a half-hour drive from Avignon, the place the trial is going down, arrived exterior the courthouse at 7:15 a.m. to ensure she would safe a seat within the intently watched case.

“How is it potential that in 50 years of communal life, one can dwell subsequent to somebody who hides his life so nicely? That is scary,” she stated, whereas standing in a line exterior the courthouse. “I haven’t got a lot hope that what he did will be defined, however he’s not less than going to provide some parts.”

Pélicot’s much-awaited testimony was delayed by days after he fell ailing, affected by a kidney stone and urinary an infection, his legal professionals stated.

A safety agent caught Pélicot in 2020 filming movies underneath ladies’s skirts in a grocery store, in keeping with court docket paperwork. Police searched Pélicot’s home and digital units, and located 1000’s of pictures and movies of males partaking in sexual acts with Gisèle Pélicot whereas she seems to lie unconscious on their mattress.

With the recordings, police had been in a position to monitor down a majority of the 72 suspects they had been in search of.

Gisèle Pélicot and her husband of fifty years had three youngsters. After they retired, the couple left the Paris area to maneuver right into a home in Mazan, a small city in Provence.

When law enforcement officials known as her in for questioning in late 2020, she initially informed them her husband was “a fantastic man,” in keeping with authorized paperwork. They then confirmed her some pictures. She left her husband and they’re now divorced.

Apart from Pélicot, 50 different males, aged 26 to 74, are standing trial. Many deny having raped Gisèle Pélicot, saying they had been manipulated by her ex-husband or claiming they believed she was consenting.