Frenchwoman in mass rape case denounces husband, other suspects as ‘degenerates’

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By Marc Leras

AVIGNON, France (Reuters) -Gisele Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by dozens of men recruited by her husband, on Wednesday called the men standing trial “degenerates” while attempts from some defence lawyers to question her credibility caused outrage in the courtroom.

The trial in the southern French town of Avignon of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other men accused of raping his wife has shocked the world. The case has also triggered protests across France in support of Gisele Pelicot, who has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence.

“These men are degenerates. They committed rape,” Gisele Pelicot, 72, told the court after her now ex-husband Dominique and one of his presumed chief accomplices, Jean-Pierre Marechal, gave testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

“When they see a woman sleeping on her bed, no one thought to ask themselves a question? They don’t have brains?”, she said, adding: “Forgiveness does not exist”.

Dominique Pelicot, 71, was seen crying during the all-day court session, saying, “I am asking for forgiveness, even though I don’t know if it can be forgiven.”

He is also accused of having raped Marechal’s wife at her home after drugging her, with the collaboration of her husband.

Gisele Pelicot insisted on a public trial in an attempt to expose her former husband and the 50 men he is accused of inviting to rape her in a small village in southern France.

The court told attendees not to boo the suspects in the case, telling them they were innocent until proven guilty in response to a skirmish between supporters of the victim and some of the accused on the day before. Tensions still increased during Wednesday’s hearing.

Causing the day’s most heated exchanges, two of the defence lawyers representing men Pelicot invited to his family home to commit abuse asked the court to display photos which they said raised doubts whether the victim was aware of what happened to her.

Gisele Pelicot fiercely rejected the claims. “They’re trying to trap me with these photos”, she said, reiterating she never agreed to any sexual activity. Her former husband said he took all the images while his wife was knocked out.

“I have felt humiliated while I’ve been in this courtroom. I have been called an alcoholic, a conspirator of Mr. Pelicot,” she said, adding her life had been “destroyed” for 10 years.

“In the state I was in, I absolutely could not respond. I was in a comatose state; the videos show that.”

The Pelicots’ daughter Caroline was on the verge of tears in the courtroom as her mother spoke. She later left the room when visual evidence was displayed.

Dominique Pelicot has denied drugging or sexually abusing Caroline, but photographs of her were found on her father’s devices along with images of her mother being raped. She has told French media that she started publicly campaigning to fight drug-induced sexual assault to cope with the shock following her father’s arrest.

Dominique Pelicot on Tuesday admitted orchestrating the mass rape of his then-wife. He asked for forgiveness and said he ultimately hoped to win back his former partner, who filed for divorce after learning of the rapes from investigators.

But the court also said it was not a problem if supporters applauded Gisele Pelicot when she emerged from the courtroom, as some have been doing.

COPYCAT CRIME

Earlier on Wednesday, Marechal, 63, admitted to working with Dominique Pelicot to drug and both rape Marechal’s wife Cilia after the men met on a now-shuttered website. Marechal blamed his mentor and a troubled childhood for his actions. Marechal is not among those accused of raping Gisele Pelicot.

He said he met Dominique Pelicot on a website called Coco, where Pelicot shared with him images of the rapes of his wife by the men he had recruited, describing how he had drugged her.

Prosecutors say Pelicot drugged Marechal’s wife and raped her while Marechal watched.

Dominique Pelicot acknowledged his guilt in raping Marechal’s wife and said he regretted his actions, adding that he cut contact with them after she woke up during one of the assaults while he was in her room.

(Reporting by Marc Leras; Writing by Makini Brice and Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Gareth Jones and Jonathan Oatis)