France: this will be the trial of cowardice, says Gisèle Pelicot to her rapists
AFP and Reuters
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, November 20, 2024, p. 24
Avignon. Gisèle Pelicot, a victim of mass rapes organized by her husband for 10 years, condemned the cowardice of the dozens of men accused of abusing her some 200 times when addressing the trial court for the last time.
For me, this trial will be the trial of cowardicethe septuagenarian repeated three times yesterday in front of her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, in court in Avignon, along with 50 other men, where he admitted to having handed her over to strangers he recruited on the Internet.
Most of the other 50 men on trial testified that they did not realize they were raping her, that they had no intention of doing so, or they blamed everything on the husband, who they claimed had manipulated them.
Society must change your attitude about rapeurged Gisèle Pelicot in her last appearance in the macro-trial that has been held in France since September 2.
Since this trial began I have heard many things. I saw people parade before the court who, for the most part, deny rape and it is very difficult for me to face this banalitythe woman stressed.
I want to ask you: at what point, when you entered that room, did I give you my consent? At what moment, upon seeing that inert body, did you become conscious?asked.
“I heard ‘they were manipulating me’, ‘I drank a glass of water, I was high’. But at what point did they not understand it?”, the septuagenarian, who has become a feminist icon since the beginning of this long trial, exclaimed indignantly before the Vaucluse criminal court.
“There are few who take responsibility for their actions. I hear the man saying ‘a finger is not rape’. “Let him question it!” he launched forcefully.
Questioned by defense lawyers, Pelicot once again defended herself against having been under control by her husband during their 50 years of life together. Absolutely nothing made me suspicious!he repeated.
He had many fantasies that I couldn’t satisfy […] and since I didn’t want to go to an exchange club, he came up with the idea of lulling me to sleep! I lost 10 years of my life that I will never get back. This scar will never heal!he exclaimed, barely containing his anger.
The last of the 51 defendants to testify yesterday, Philippe L., 62, accused of aggravated rapefaces, like the majority of the 51 defendants, aged between 26 and 74, a sentence of 20 years in prison.
Few offered sincere apologies to Gisèle Pelicot, even after being confronted with videos of her actions, shown in court, in which their victim appears completely inert.
Dominique Pelicot, 71, admitted in court yesterday to having drugged, raped and had his wife raped to satisfy his fantasy of subduing an unsubmissive womanbut without making her suffer.
The trial will enter its final phase starting this Wednesday, with the beginning of the arguments of the civil parties, before probably being suspended until Monday to allow the prosecution to prepare its injunctions, which will last for three days. Then the defense arguments will begin, for three weeks. There will then be a week left for the court’s five professional magistrates to deliberate, with a verdict expected no later than December 20.