French mass rape trial enters sentencing stage

AIVGNON: Having evidence in the mass rape scandal, French prosecutors will be putting forward their sentencing requests to judges on Monday against a man who is under trial for allegedly drugging his wife for years so he could invite dozens of strangers to abuse her.

Primary defendant Dominique Pelicot has been in the dock in the southern city of Avignon along with 49 other men for organising the rapes and sexual abuse of his now ex-wife Gisele Pelicot.

The case has shocked a France still working through its version of the "MeToo movement", with the latest demonstrations calling for increased protection against sexual violence bringing out tens of thousands on the streets.

Its impact has been relayed around the world, with 57 of the 138 media organisations covering the trial from outside France.

On Thursday, the president of Chile's parliament hailed Gisele's "courage and dignity", calling her "an ordinary citizen who has taught the whole world a lesson".

Beyond Dominique, who has admitted to all of the charges, prosecutors must decide on appropriate potential punishments for the other defendants which include men aged 26 to 74 from all walks of life.

Many argued in court that they believed Dominique's claim they were participating in a libertine fantasy, in which his then-wife had consented to sexual contact and was only pretending to be asleep.

Among them, 33 have also claimed they were not in their right minds when they abused or raped Gisele — a defence not backed up by any of the psychological reports compiled by court-appointed experts.

Sentencing requests are slated to take three full days in the court's agenda, with prosecutors themselves estimating an average of 15 minutes per defendant.

As 11 weeks of hearings about the facts of the case drew to a close last week, Gisele's lawyer Antoine Camus called for "truth and justice" to be rendered to the plaintiff as well as her three children, David, Caroline and Florian, her step-children Celine and Aurore, and her grandchildren.

The court's five judges will not issue their ruling on the sentences until late December.

20-year sentence

The serious rape charges levelled at most of the accused carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.

As the orchestrator of his ex-wife's abuse, Dominique appears likely to receive the full penalty.

He has himself said he wants to go to prison for drugging Gisele with anti-anxiety drugs regularly from July 2011 to October 2020, leaving her vulnerable to abuse by strangers recruited online.

Dominique documented the crimes extensively in photos and videos later discovered by police after he was caught filming up women's skirts in public.

Prosecutors may also ask the maximum penalty for fellow defendant Jean-Pierre M, now aged 63, who applied Dominique's practices against his own wife to rape her a dozen times, sometimes in the presence of Dominique himself.

Of the remaining accused, 35 completely deny taking part in a rape.

Observers will be watching whether prosecutors ask for heavier penalties for those who came to rape Gisele multiple times — some of them as many as six — than for those who answered Dominique's invitation only once.

After Dominique, two men accused of sexual assault and attempted rape will be dealt with first by prosecutors, before they move on to the defendants on trial for rape.

Defence lawyers will have their turn to speak from Wednesday afternoon or Thursday, with Dominique's lawyer Beatrice Zavarro up first.

Judges are expected to rule by December 20 at the latest on the sentencing.