Prosecutors demand maximum term for Frenchman in mass rape trial

RFI

25 November 2024 at 8:01 am·1-min read

Gisèle Pelicot has been praised for her courage in insisting the trial be held in open court so that it might help change mentalities on the issue of sexual violence.

The prosecution has requested Dominique Pelicot be sentenced to prison for 20 years for drugging and raping his then wife Gisèle Pelicot and recruiting dozens of others to rape her for nearly a decade.

"The maximum sentence is 20 years, which is a lot... but at the same time ... too little in view of the seriousness of the acts that were committed and repeated", Laure Chabaud, one of the two public prosecutors, told the court in the southern city of Avignon on Monday.

Dominique Pelicot has admitted to drugging his wife and recruting dozens of men online over a decade to rape her while she lay unconscious in their home in Mazan, Provence.

Despite video evidence against the other 50 men on trial, only 14 of them have admitted rape.

The others have said they did not realise they were raping her, did not intend to rape her or put all the blame on her husband, whom they said had manipulated them.

In her closing statements, 72-year-old Gisèle Pelicot said the case has laid bare a "macho society" in which rape is "trivialised".

France's Gisele Pelicot says 'macho' society must change attitude on rape

"You were right, madam: the past few weeks have shown the importance of showing this, so that shame changes sides," he added.

(with newswires)

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