Man accused of drugging spouse so dozens of males might rape her testifies in French court docket : NPR

AVIGNON, France — A person accused of drugging his then-wife and welcoming dozens of males to rape her over practically 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 will probably be essential for the panel of judges to determine 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 develop into a logo of the combat in opposition to sexual violence in France for agreeing to waive her anonymity within the case, letting the trial be public, and showing brazenly in entrance of the media. She is anticipated to talk in court docket after her ex-husband’s testimony on Tuesday.

Underneath French legislation, 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 in the course of the trial. Defendants who will not be in custody come to the trial sporting 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 happening, arrived exterior the courthouse at 7:15 a.m. to verify she would safe a seat within the carefully watched case.

“How is it possible that in 50 years of communal life, one can live next to someone who hides his life so well? This is scary,” she mentioned, whereas standing in a line exterior the courthouse. “I don’t have much hope that what he did can be explained, but he is at least going to give some elements.”

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

A safety agent caught Pélicot in 2020 filming movies beneath girls’s skirts in a grocery store, in accordance with court docket paperwork. Police searched Pélicot’s home and digital gadgets, and located hundreds of photographs 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 observe down a majority of the 72 suspects they had been looking for.

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 instructed them her husband was “a terrific man,” in accordance with authorized paperwork. They then confirmed her some photographs. She left her husband and they’re now divorced.

Moreover 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.