Dominique Pelicot, the main defendant in the trial for drugging his wife to be raped by strangers, He is “hospitalized,” his lawyer told the French court that is trying him, which puts his statement and the continuation of the trial on hold.
According to the criteria of
Pelicot, 71, “is hospitalised today,” said his lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, during the seventh day of the highly publicised trial in the Avignon court in southern France.
The president of the court, Roger Arata, ordered a medical report on the accused and reiterated, as at the opening of the trial on Tuesday, that he could suspend it for a few days while waiting for his health to improve.
Zavarro explained that his client had begun to experience the first symptoms of “a urinary tract infection, perhaps kidney colic” last Friday and hinted that “he did not necessarily receive care over the weekend.”
His lawyer considered the postponement of the process “essential” if it is intended to continue in his absence, and above all, He rejected speculation that arose on Tuesday morning about an alleged maneuver by his client to avoid testifying.
He said he would “answer all questions” but said this medical issue arose “which he had not planned.”
Pelicot is accused of putting his wife Gisele Pelicot to sleep by administering drugs against her will so that she could be raped by dozens of strangers between 2011 and 2020, first in the Paris region and then at his home in Mazan, in the south of France.
The main defendant and 50 other men, who have been identified, face up to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape in this case, which shocked France and made headlines around the world.
“Mrs. Pelicot and her children do not wish to testify without him being present,” confirmed one of her lawyers, Stéphane Babonneau. “It is absolutely necessary that Mr. Pelicot receives medical treatment and is able to attend the trial.”
The main defendant had already missed Monday’s hearing on his character, due to intestinal pain. He looked very weak as he entered the dock, leaning on his cane.
Pending a possible suspension, the trial continued on Tuesday with the testimony of Stéphan Gal, the second head of the investigation into this case involving 51 defendants aged between 26 and 74.
‘His personality has two sides’: experts profile the suspect
On Monday it was the turn of expert psychologists and psychiatrists, who described the suspect as a man consumed by “obsessive fantasies,” bordering on necrophilia, and with a total lack of empathy.
“Affectionate” grandfather and a “super guy” by day, for his now ex-wife, but a rapist by night.
“By day, you can be coherent and by night, you can seem different,” said expert Bruno Daunizeau, who spoke of “Dr. Jekyll,” referring to the sinister scientist in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel.
On the one hand, He is described as “an honorable husband, father and grandfather, and a dear friend,” but at the same time as someone “very manipulative, who lies a lot,” psychiatrist Paul Bensussan added on Monday.
“His personality is two-faceted: on the one hand, he is a patriarch who is trusted by those close to him” and on the other, “he uses lies and secrecy,” said psychologist Marianne Douteau, who describes him as “choleric.”
#Dominique #Pelicot #Frenchman #accused #drugging #wife #men #rape #hospitalized #testify #Tuesday