Dominique Pelicot, tried for sexually assaulting his then wife, Gisèle Pelicot, from 2011 to 2020, and offering her to dozens of men to rape her, acknowledged his guilt again this Monday and extended it to the other 50 accused, during his last take speaking in this macro-trial before the Avignon Criminal Court, which plans to begin its deliberations tomorrow and hand down a sentence this Thursday.
“Everyone here, despite the presumption of innocence, is guilty, like me,” said Pelicot, who repeatedly left his wife unconscious with high doses of anxiolytics to sexually assault her, to the point of putting her at risk of death.
Dominique Pelicot has highlighted “the courage” that his ex-wife showed throughout this trial, while apologizing again to Jean-Pierre Maréchal’s partner, the only court that did not attack Gisèle Pelicot, but rather his wife, who was also raped several times by Dominique. Finally, the main defendant ended his statement by thanking the work of his lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, as well as the court, to whom he said that “the deprivation of not seeing your loved ones is worse than the deprivation of freedom.”
Maréchal spoke after Dominique Pelicot, who acknowledged the acts accused of him: “Judge me for what I have done and what I am,” he asked. Then it was the rest’s turn. The majority did not want to testify, although others have appreciated the development of the trial and the work of their lawyers and some more have wanted to reiterate their excuses to the victim.
On the other hand, another group of defendants insisted on denying the facts, despite the thousands of photos and videos that Dominique Pelicot took while they committed the crimes, key evidence in this trial. “I’m not a rapist,” one of them tried to say.
20 years in prison
The Prosecutor’s Office requests 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence in France for the crime of rape, for Dominique Pelicot. In its argument, the Public Ministry insisted that the woman did not give her consent at any time and that she was reduced to “an object” by the aggressors. “Gisèle Pelicot was reduced to an object. “Consent was not present before or during the act,” said prosecutor Jean-François Mayet, who denounced the “humiliating degradation” that Gisèle suffered throughout the ten years in which her ex-husband drugged her with sleeping pills to completely leave her. unconscious and thus be able to sexually abuse her and offer her to dozens of men.
It all ended in September 2020 when he was arrested for recording under the skirts of some women in a supermarket in Carpentras and when searching his computer files, investigators discovered thousands of videos and photos in which the rapes to which he subjected the victim appeared. .
This has become a symbolic case because from the beginning Gisèle Pelicot decided that it would be open-door “so that shame can take control.” Throughout the process, the woman has regretted having heard “unacceptable things,” which shows the revictimization that those who report sexual violence continue to face.
“I feel angry towards these men because at no time did they stop, at no time did they report. They came to satisfy their sexual urges. They could stop at any time and not a single one reported. “That draws attention,” he denounced, turning towards them and pointing his finger at them. At what point did they ask my permission when they raped me? He asked the accused in his last statement.
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