Suspects face horrific videos in France’s mass-rape case

Warning: This story contains disturbing details from the start.

There was a sudden silence in the court in Avignon as three large television screens, mounted on three walls, flickered back to life. One could hear people bracing themselves.

In a murky trial about incredible drug and rape allegations, it was time to show Dominique Pelicot’s carefully selected home videos.

Those videos, recorded by Pelicot and stored on a hard drive that he labeled as “harassment”, document attacks on his ex-wife, Gisèle, over the course of ten years.

50 men were accused of raping her after she was drugged and left unconscious by her husband in the bed of the couple.

Now 72, Gisèle Pelicot has revoked her anonymity so that the full details of her experience can be revealed to the French public. His lawyers are fighting for the videos of these cases to be shown in court.

Although the judge said that “sympathetic” people will be able to leave, one of Gisèle Pelicot’s legal team said that many decided to “face the rape”.

Many of the men employed by her ex-husband online insist that they do not believe what they are doing is rape.

Dominique Pelicot is sitting behind the glass, lying in his chair. His gray hair is neatly trimmed, his left hand is raised to block his view of the screen.

Gisèle Pelicot was sitting on the other side of the court, her head leaning against the wall, her eyes closed from time to time. His blank, unreadable face.

On the screen, in complete silence, appeared a short, pale man wearing only blue underpants and black socks, approaching the bed.

The camera panned as he followed her. Behind the man, the woman was lying on her left side, almost naked, on a crumpled white sheet. And then, without planning, without blurring, the sexual acts began.

At times, later in the video, you could clearly hear the woman snoring.

In court, Dominique Pelicot was seen putting both hands over his ears. He had been mixing his wife’s food and drink with an anti-anxiety drug for years, which caused her to lose consciousness and had a negative impact on her health.

This and other videos, shown in court and by Gisèle Pelicot’s insistence to the public watching in a nearby overflow room, are among the prosecution’s case.

Prosecutors argued that all 50 men who accepted online invitations from Pelicot to visit the family home in the village of Mazan, near Avignon, must have known his wife was unconscious.

Therefore, they must have realized that he was not a willing partner in some kind of sex game where he simply pretended to be asleep. Therefore, they must have intended to rape her.

But dozens of defense attorneys and their clients now want to challenge that.

The man seen on the screen in the video was a 43-year-old carpenter, named in court as Vincent C.

He stands now in front of the judges in a separate glass-walled area at the back of the courtroom, with his head down, facing the side of the screen.

“Do you see the facts of the terrible rape you are accused of?” asked lead judge Roger Arata – a charming figure with a large white moustache.

“No,” replied Vincent C.

His explanation, which was delivered in no uncertain terms, amounted to the absurd assumption that, since Dominique Pelicot had told him that his wife was a willing partner in the game of sex, he was no longer thinking about the matter.

At this point Gisèle Pelicot left the court for a few minutes, saying “I can’t stand that man”.

Vincent C admitted that the experience was “weird,” and unlike anything he’s experienced with other couples. However, he continued, “I did not say to myself: this is not going well… [about much else] at those times.”

However, after speaking with his mother and lawyers, and watching the trial, Vincent C said he has come to understand more about French law, the definition of rape and the seriousness of his actions.

“Now that I’m told how the events happened, yes, the actions I did could amount to rape.”

“Do you know that Gisèle Pelicot was the victim of your actions?” asked the judge.

“Yes.”

Pelicot has pleaded guilty to all the charges against him.

Outside the court, a lawyer representing one of the accused made a distinction between Pelicot and the others.

“Today it is clear that Dominique Pelicot’s position is to try to ease his burden by dragging down the other 50 men. [Gisèle] is a victim. The question is whether these others had a hand in it or were tricked into participating,” said Paul-Roger Gontard.

While some of the suspects admitted to raping, others said they spoke or communicated with Gisèle Pelicot in the bedroom.

“Therefore, there are gray areas in this case,” continued Mr. Gontard, pointing out that the videos themselves had already been edited by Pelicot himself, meaning that evidence that could be useful to the defense could have been cut.

“He chose what he wanted to keep. He chose guns. But don’t let that fool you. Everyone says he is very cunning.

“There are not many [of the accused] they thought it was a libertine project with the couple, but they found out that it was actually an evil and criminal plan designed by the husband.

“The question today is when did they realize that something was wrong?” This realization varies between [the accused]. The question often arises – why didn’t they go? It is not so easy to leave at that time when you are dealing with a very transparent person in a situation where he is naked and being recorded by the camera,” added the lawyer.

Ten minutes from the court, in a small house in the Avignon area, one of the accused, who has already testified in the trial, agreed to speak to the BBC on condition of anonymity. The man, who is a nurse by profession, identified himself as the victim of Dominique Pelicot.

“I was scared… I was reduced to the status of a musical instrument. He is the one who said to me: ‘do this.’ I said to myself, this man is not normal, he is a psychopath. It is an ambush, a trap. He will kill me in this house,” said the suspect.

He also said that Gisèle Pelicot “responded to a simple caress … she scratched herself with joint movements”, which made him believe that she was alive and pretended to be asleep.

When I challenged him, suggesting that he was simply trying to portray himself as a victim to avoid taking the blame, he insisted that this was not the case.

He criticized, again and again, the way the trial was conducted, the allegations of “fake women”, and the “confusion” created by the media.

Speaking forcefully, but crying from time to time, he insisted that he was not a rapist. However, he admitted that “I will never be considered innocent in this case.” I will always carry my guilt. I know that.”

The trial in Avignon will continue for several weeks, with a verdict expected shortly before Christmas.

Only half of the defendants have so far been called to testify, but already this case has revealed, in harrowing detail, the horrors that Gisèle Pelicot faced, and her incredible courage to refuse her right to privacy.

The case also highlighted long-standing debates over French laws and attitudes towards rape, and the extent to which a woman’s consent is, or should be, a factor in court.

Many men have admitted that they made a mistake and, like Vincent C, even apologized to Gisèle Pelicot in court, but reiterated that since he did not intend to rape, he should not be found guilty.