Gisèle Pelicot’s accusers and the public showed video evidence in French rape trial that shocked the world

WARNING: Details of this story may be distressing to some readers.

She is a small and modest 72-year-old grandmother, but throughout the world her name has become synonymous with heroism and bravery.

Last month, Gisèle Pelicot told a court in the south of France how she was unknowingly drugged and raped by dozens of men, orchestrated and filmed by her now ex-husband Dominique Pelicot.

She waved her right to anonymity as an alleged victim of sexual assault, insisting instead that the shame must pass from the victim to the attacker.

Now, her accusers have come face to face with the alleged abuse after a public court showed videos of the abuse on Friday to challenge several co-defendants who denied knowing she was unconscious during her actions.

The judge had nine videos and several photographs of Pelicot’s abuse shown in court and in an adjacent public chamber, involving seven of the 50 men accused alongside her ex-husband.

Since the trial began on September 2, the courtroom in the southern city of Avignon has been reserved for members of the court, the parties involved and the media.

Members of the public have been assigned to an adjacent room where the proceedings are broadcast live.

Present in court, Gisele Pelicot looked at her phone during the hour and a half showing, while her ex-husband in the dock covered his eyes and several of her co-defendants watched themselves on the screen or looked at the floor.

They were examined to dispute statements by some of the accused that they did not know the victim was unconscious.

After the images were released on Friday, however, the majority maintained their defense.

They had previously said they thought they were participating in a sexual game.

After the screenings, one of them said he “didn’t remember” the event.

Another said he was “terrified” by Pelicot, even though he “doesn’t look like it” in the images.

A third said he didn’t hear Pelicot snoring or “expected her to wake up at the end.”

‘She will find meaning in her suffering’

Mrs Pelicot appealed for the videos, recorded by her ex-husband and presented as evidence at the trial, to be shown to the public.

Reversing an earlier decision to hold the screenings behind closed doors, Judge Roger Arata accepted her lawyers’ request that the public be present when the images were shown.

Since the start of the trial, the 72-year-old has been praised for her courage and composure, admired for speaking in a calm, clear voice and for allowing her full name to be published – something unusual in French law for victims in murder trials. violation.

In doing so, she became a symbol of the fight against sexual violence, leading thousands of people across France to demonstrate in support of her and messages of solidarity to arrive from around the world.

And his insistence that the videos be shown to the public demonstrates his desire for the trial to serve as a national example, one of his lawyers told the Associated Press.

“For Gisele Pelicot, it is too late. The harm is done,” said his lawyer Stephane Babonneau.

“But if those same hearings, through their publicity, help prevent other women from having to go through this, then she will find meaning in her suffering.”

The alleged attacks occurred between July 2011 and October 2020, mainly at the couple’s home in Mazan, a village of 6,000 inhabitants in the southern region of Provence.

Most suspects face up to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape if convicted.

Eighteen of the 51 accused are in custody, including Mr Pelicot, with a further 32 also charged.

ABC/wires