International Courant
The 71-year-old Frenchman drugged his spouse and invited dozens of strangers to rape her over a interval of 9 years.
Prosecutors in France have sought the utmost 20-year jail sentence for a person who organized the mass rape of his then-wife for practically a decade.
Dominique Pelicot knocked his spouse Gisele Pelicot unconscious with medicine and invited dozens of strangers to abuse her at their household houses in Paris and the southern metropolis of Mazan between 2011 and 2020.
The 71-year-old has admitted all prices in opposition to him in a trial that has shocked France and drawn international consideration to the difficulty of sexual violence.
Forty-nine different males have additionally been tried for collaborating within the abuse. Prosecutors are anticipated to announce within the subsequent two days what sentence they may search in opposition to the co-defendant.
Prosecutors have rejected the arguments of most of the males, who had been between 21 and 68 years previous on the time of the assaults, claiming they participated in a consensual fantasy or weren’t of sound thoughts.
Gisele Pelicot carries flowers as she leaves the court docket in Avignon, France, on November 25, 2024 (Alexandre Dimou/Reuters)
Footage performed in court docket in current weeks, a part of some 20,000 movies and photographs recorded by Dominique Pelicot, confirmed Gisele mendacity immobile as males attacked her.
“The suspects try to keep away from duty by saying they thought Gisele Pelicot agreed,” prosecutor Laure Chabaud instructed the crowded court docket within the metropolis of Avignon.
“However it isn’t potential at present, in 2024, to consider that,” Chabaud added.
Chabaud mentioned that whereas 20 years is the utmost sentence that may be imposed on Dominique, that is “too little contemplating the seriousness of the acts dedicated and repeated.”
Prosecutors additionally mentioned they had been looking for a 17-year jail sentence in opposition to Jean-Pierre Marechal.
The 63-year-old – who met Dominique in a now closed chatroom of males asking for rape materials – has additionally admitted drugging his personal spouse in order that each males might rape her.
Sentencing for the suspect is predicted to happen round December 20 on the finish of the trial.
Gisele might have demanded that the trial happen behind closed doorways, however as a substitute requested for it to be made public.
The 71-year-old mentioned she hoped it will assist different girls converse out and sort out the stigma for sexual assault survivors.
The trial has led to demonstrations in assist of Gisele in France, and fueled a debate over whether or not to replace the nation’s rape legislation, which presently doesn’t point out the requirement that intercourse represent consent.
As an alternative, prosecutors are required to show a perpetrator’s intent to rape utilizing “drive, coercion, risk or shock.”
French prosecutors demand 20 years in jail for Dominique Pelicot in mass rape case | Information about sexual violence
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