French prosecutors demand maximum sentence for Gisèle Pelicot's ex-husband in rape trial

AVIGNON, France — A mammoth rape trial in France moved into a new phase Monday with prosecutors beginning to lay out the verdicts and punishments they want for dozens of men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband.

After hearings stretching over nearly three months, the trial of 51 defendants in the southern city of Avignon is beginning to wrap up. Pelicot’s courage during the harrowing proceedings has helped transform her into an icon, even beyond France, for campaigners fighting against sexual violence.

The public prosecutors started Monday by focusing on Dominique Pelicot, the man that 71-year-old Gisèle Pelicot was married to for nearly 50 years, believing he was a loving, caring husband.

But he has acknowledged that for years, he mixed sedatives into her food and drink, so he could rape her and also invite dozens of strangers that he recruited online to rape her, too.

Prosecutor Laure Chabaud asked the panel of judges for the maximum possible penalty for aggravated rape — 20 years — against Gisèle Pelicot’s now ex-husband. The 72-year-old stared down at the floor, one hand on the handle of his cane, as the prosecutor spoke.

“Twenty years between the four walls of a prison,” she said. “It’s both a lot and not enough.”

The court is expected to deliver its verdicts before Dec. 20.

Gisèle Pelicot has waived her right to not to be publicly identified and pushed for graphic images that her husband filmed of the rapes to be presented in the courtroom, showing that she was unconscious and inert, audibly snoring.

“This woman was you, Madame Gisèle Pelicot, an ordinary woman," said prosecutor Jean-François Mayet, turning to her, as he praised her courage on Monday and her desire to make shame change sides, so it falls on rapists and not their victims.

She sat quietly, sometimes staring up the ceiling, as the prosecutors detailed how Dominique Pelicot amassed and carefully catalogued a library of 20,000 photos and videos of the abuse that stretched over nearly a decade. The evidence stored on hard drives, memory sticks and phones led investigators to the dozens of men he recruited.

“When did they ask the question of Madame Pelicot's consent? Not before. Not during," Mayet said.

Pelicot previously tearfully acknowledged in court that he’s guilty of the allegations against him. He said all of his co-defendants understood exactly what they were doing when he invited them to his home in Provence between 2011 and 2020 to have sex with his unconscious and unwitting wife, who divorced him after learning what he had done to her.