Prosecutor requests 20-year sentence for Dominique Pelicot in mass rape trial

By Saskya Vandoorne and Niamh Kennedy, CNN

Avignon, France (CNN) — Dominique Pelicot, the man who organized for more than 50 men to rape his unconscious wife, is “fully responsible” for his actions, a French public prosecutor told court after requesting the maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Public prosecutor Laure Chabaud told the packed courthouse in Avignon, southern France, on Monday that the sentence would be “long” but “not enough considering the serious nature of these acts.”

“There are many examples in history of criminals capable of presenting themselves in a charming light and who at the same time are capable of the worst atrocities. Dominique Pelicot fits this bill. He was an attentive husband, father and grandfather,” Chabaud said.

“He suffers from no mental illness, so he is fully responsible for the acts he committed. We must ask ourselves about the future, which appears relatively bleak. His is considered incredibly dangerous,” she added.

A huge crowd of journalists and supporters gathered in the courtroom inside Avignon’s Tribunal de Grande Instance on Monday morning for the final day of oral arguments in a case that has made headlines at home in France and around the world.

Pelicot has been accused of organizing for more than 50 men to visit his house in the southern French village of Mazan and rape his wife, Gisele Pelicot. Over a period spanning nearly 10 years, Dominique Pelicot used an online website and messaging platforms to seek out men from a radius spanning roughly 25 miles (40 kilometers). Pelicot has admitted to habitually drugging his wife with a strong sedative before allowing strangers to sexually abuse her.

Dominique Pelicot kept his eyes closed and looked down at the ground during the hearing. All 50 other defendants were also present in court, with many using face masks to conceal their faces from the cameras.

The case has sparked a fervent debate about attitudes in France towards consent. The prosecutor highlighted the issue again in court on Monday, saying: “We can’t say in 2024 that because she (Gisele Pelicot) didn’t say anything she consented.”

“There was nothing ambiguous about Gisele Pelicot that could make the men think she was giving her consent,” Chabaud added.

Throughout the court case that began in September, defense lawyers for the accused have tried to undermine Gisele Pelicot’s claim that she was unaware of her husband’s actions. Chabaud told the court on Monday that she didn’t want to return to the “question that keeps coming up, ‘how is it possible that she didn’t realize anything was going on?’”

“For years, she tried to understand what was wrong with her, she had pains in her lower abdomen, vaginal discharge, hemorrhoids and so on. No analysis was able to determine the cause,” the prosecutor added.

Beatrice Zavarro, the lawyer for Dominique Pelicot, told journalists outside court after Monday morning’s hearing that the request wasn’t a “surprise for us” and had been entirely “predictable.”

Despite this, she said it was still “difficult” to tell a 72-year-old man such as Pelicot that he may have to spend the next 20 years in prison.

The court is set to reconvene again on December 20 when judges will hand down the sentences in what is considered to be one of the darkest criminal cases in modern French history.

On the eve of the final hearing, protesters pasted posters outside the courthouse with the slogan “20 years for all,” calling for all 51 defendants to receive the maximum sentence.

Huge crowds attended a protest in Paris on Saturday calling for changes in societal attitudes towards consent. They carried placards with the slogan, “shame must switch sides” – a reference to a quote Gisele Pelicot made during court proceedings.

Saskya Vandoorne reported in Avignon, Niamh Kennedy wrote in London.

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