A high-profile rape trial in France has moved into a new phase, with prosecutors setting out the verdicts and punishments they want for dozens of men accused of raping Gisele Pelicot while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband.
After hearings stretching over nearly three months, the trial in the southern city of Avignon is beginning to wrap up, with prosecutors summing up the verdicts they want for the 51 accused.
They started by focusing on Dominique Pelicot, the man that 71-year-old Gisele Pelicot was married to for nearly 50 years.
He has acknowledged that for years, he mixed sedatives into her food and drink, so that he could rape her and also invite dozens of strangers to sexually assault her.
Prosecutor Laure Chabaud asked for the maximum possible penalty for aggravated rape – 20 years – against Gisele 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 December 20.
During the trial, Ms Pelicot has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France.
She has insisted that the proceedings should be held in public, against the court’s suggestion of holding the trial behind closed doors.
And she has been praised for her courage and composure, as well as admired for speaking in a calm and clear voice and allowing her full name be published – uncommon under French law for alleged victims in rape trials.
