FILE PHOTO: Gisele Pelicot who has allegedly been drugged and raped by men solicited by her husband Dominique Pelicot, at the courthouse in Avignon, France, September 11, 2024. REUTERS/Manon Cruz/File Photo
AVIGNON, France (Reuters) -Dominique Pelicot admitted to drugging his wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her over nearly a decade, begging for his family's forgiveness, as he told a French court on Tuesday: "I am a rapist."
Pelicot's hearing, the centrepiece of one of France's most spectacular criminal trials in recent history, had to be delayed last week due to his bad health.
He faces multiple charges including rape, gang rape and privacy breaches by recording and disseminating sexual images.
Pelicot appeared in court with a cane on Tuesday morning and spoke to the judge through a microphone. His lawyer said he had taken heavy medication and was allowed to take breaks to lie down throughout the day.
"I am a rapist just like all the others in this room," he said, adding, "I ask my wife, my children, my grandchildren to accept my apologies. I regret what I did. I ask for your forgiveness, even if it is not forgivable."
The case has shocked the country and triggered nationwide protests in support of his wife Gisele, who has become a symbol of the struggle against sexual violence in France.
Pelicot told the courtroom he had a difficult upbringing and had himself been a victim of rape, crying at times.
He said he had wanted his wife to participate in partner swaps and her refusal, together with trauma from his youth, had helped to trigger his abusive behaviour.
"It became a perversion, an addiction," he told the courtroom.
Pelicot, who said he had filmed the acts of abuse as an insurance policy in case one of the men involved reacted poorly, said he had been the victim of blackmail as a result of his activities.
Gisele Pelicot was in the courtroom and wore sunglasses during his appearance on the stand. She was greeted with applause by spectators when she left during breaks.
PUBLIC TRIAL
Gisele Pelicot had insisted on a public trial to expose her husband and the other men accused of raping her.
"For 50 years, I lived with a man who I would never have imagined was capable of these acts of rape," she said.
Gisele Pelicot began divorce proceedings after meeting with investigators over the case.
When asked by one of the lawyers if he thought he could win back his former partner, Dominique Pelicot said: "It is important to have hope."
Prosecutors have said Pelicot, who was initially arrested after filming up a woman's skirt in a supermarket, offered sex with his wife on a website called Coco and filmed the abuse.
Pelicot described how he had recruited men online, on the now-defunct website. He said he had begun private chats with potential recruits, telling them he was "looking for someone to abuse my sleeping, drugged wife".
"When they came, they already knew everything. They all knew how this went before the meetings," said Pelicot, adding later: "They couldn't feel as if they were being manipulated. I didn't force anyone; I didn't put a gun to anyone's head."
One of the men who allegedly raped her was HIV-positive, though he had lied about his health status beforehand. Pelicot said he had feared for his wife when he heard the news, and that the man had told him he could not get an erection with a condom.
"Some came with condoms, others without," he said. "I let them do it ... What I did was completely stupid."
In addition to Pelicot, 50 other men, currently aged 26 to 74, are also on trial on rape charges in the southern city of Avignon. Pelicot has said a total of 72 men participated in the abuse of his then-wife.
"I want to prove that my wife was a victim and not an accomplice, to prove that this was completely without her knowledge," he said.
While some of the defendants admitted guilt to the investigators, others have said they believed they were enacting a couple's fantasy and that Gisele Pelicot had in fact consented to sex.
Investigators found 300 photographs and a video of the acts and filed them in folders, including one titled "Abuse," according to a court document.
Gisele Pelicot told investigators that she had suffered from memory lapses and had consulted a gynaecologist for unexplained pains.
The trial is set to last through December. If found guilty, the defendants face up to 20 years in jail.
(Reporting by Marc Leras in Avignon, Makini Brice and Tassilo Hummel in Paris; additional reporting by Antony Paone and Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Kevin Liffey and Gabriel Stargardter)
