Gisele Pelicot appeared in court in Nimes in France on Wednesday, telling the one man who still contests his rape conviction that she “never” gave him her consent.
The 72-year-old’s former husband has admitted to drugging her with sedatives and inviting dozens of men to their home to rape and abuse her over the course of nearly a decade.
Dominique Pelicot, 72, received the maximum possible sentence of 20 years. He and 49 other men convicted in a case that shocked France and the wider world are not appealing.
But one 44-year-old man has maintained his innocence and appealed his 9-year prison sentence, blaming Pelicot’s husband for “luring” him to the home and claiming he felt trapped.
What Pelicot said during her testimony in court
Pelicot, who was greeted with applause each time she arrived in the courtroom in the southern city this week, confronted the appellant directly on Wednesday.
“At what moment did I give you my consent,” she asked. “Never.”
“Take responsibility for your actions and stop hiding behind your cowardice,” she said.
Pelicot has been greeted with applause on entering the courtroom this weekImage: Coust Laurent/abaca/picture alliance
One of Pelicot’s lawyers, Antoine Camus, told France’s AFP news agency that his client would have preferred to focus on her future.
But he said she was “astounded by the [defendant’s] continued denial, despite the material evidence.”
“She needs to see this through to the end,” Camus said.
Pelicot was also blunt in her criticism of the defendant’s lawyer, when asked if she had ever suspected her husband during the years of abuse.
“Do you think that if I had known Dominique Pelicot was drugging me, I wouldn’t have reported him? Are you joking?” she replied.
Appellant blames husband, claims he felt ‘trapped’
The 44-year-old man is seeking to blame Pelicot’s husband for orchestrating the situation, despite more than 100 photographs and various video footage of the two men raping the victim, some of which was shown in court.
He said that he felt “trapped” in the situation at the Pelicots’ home.
“I wanted to stop. At one point, I became very suspicious. I continued because he reassured me,” he told the court. “He’s the manipulator, not me. He’s the one who lured me there.”
The defendant and his lawyers blame Pelicot’s husband for ‘luring’ him to the homeImage: Coust Laurent/abaca/picture alliance
Dominique Pelicot, meanwhile, rejected this argument and said the defendant had been a willing participant who knew his wife would be “asleep.”
“I never forced anyone,” he said.
Police investigator alleges he was ‘fully aware of the victim’s condition’
Jeremie Bosse-Platiere, the police officer who led the investigation into what became known in France as the Mazan case, also attacked the defendant’s arguments.
“I have no doubt that he was fully aware of the victim’s condition,” he said.
He described a point in the video in which Gisele Pelicot could be seen moving slightly and the deffendant immediately moved away, saying he was “worried that his victim might wake up” and had frozen in a “waiting position.”
Bosse-Platiere also disputed the defendant’s claim of having been in the Pelicot home for just half an hour, telling the court that the evidence suggested he stayed at the scene for “at least 3 hours and 24 minutes.”
Currently facing a nine-year sentence, the maximum sentence the defendant is exposed to is the 20 years given to Dominique Pelicot.
A verdict is expected on Thursday in Nimes.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn