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A presumed accomplice of a man currently on trial in France for allegedly inviting dozens of men to rape his drugged and unconscious wife over the course of a decade told court Wednesday that he learned how to commit copycat crimes on his own wife under the tutelage of Dominique Pélicot.
Jean-Pierre Marechal, 63, told the French courtroom that Dominique Pélicot acted as a mentor to him after the pair met on a now-defunct website, where Dominique shared images of other men raping Gisèle Pélicot and asked Marechal if he would allow him to rape his wife, Cilia.
Marechal said, at first, he turned down the offer, but eventually relented and worked with Dominique to drug and rape Cilia.
“I regret my actions. I love my wife,” Marechal said in the courtroom in Avignon, in southern France.
“If I had not met Mr. Pélicot, I would have never committed this act. He was reassuring, like a cousin,” he continued, saying he was supplied tranquilizers by Dominique.
“I’m in jail and I deserve it,” he said. “What I did is appalling. I’m a criminal and a rapist.”
The trial of Dominique and 50 other men accused of raping Gisèle has shocked the world. The case has also triggered protests across France in support of Gisèle, who has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence.
Demonstration in support of Gisèle Pélicot and all victims of rape on September 14, 2024.
Alain Apaydin / ABACA Press
“These men are degenerates. They committed rape,” Gisele, 72, told the court after her now ex-husband and Marechal, gave testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
“When they see a woman sleeping on her bed, no one thought to ask themselves a question? They don’t have brains?”, she said, adding: “Forgiveness does not exist”.
“Today I maintain that, along with the other men here, I am a rapist,″ Dominique testified on Tuesday. “They knew everything. They can’t say otherwise.”
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Although he previously confessed to investigators, Dominique’s court testimony will be crucial for the panel of judges to decide on the fate of his co-defendants, many of whom deny having raped Gisèle, saying her then-husband had manipulated them or that they believed she was consenting.
This courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier shows Gisèle Pelicot, left, and her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot, right, during his trial, at the Avignon court house, in Avignon, southern France, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.
Valentin Pasquier / The Associated Press
Dominique was seen crying during Wednesday’s all-day court session, saying, “I am asking for forgiveness, even though I don’t know if it can be forgiven.”
He is also accused of having raped Marechal’s wife at her home after drugging her, with the collaboration of her husband. Prosecutors say Marechal watched as Dominique raped his wife.
Dominique acknowledged his guilt in raping Marechal’s wife and said he regretted his actions, adding that he cut contact with them after she woke up during one of the assaults while he was in her room.
Marechal is not accused of raping Gisèle.
Gisèle Pélicot walks during an interuption at the Avignon courthouse as she attends the trial of her former partner Dominique Pelicot accused of drugging her for nearly ten years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan, a small town in the south of France, in Avignon, on September 17, 2024.
Christophe Simon / AFP via Getty Images
On Wednesday, the court told attendees not to boo the suspects in the case, telling them they were innocent until proven guilty in response to a skirmish between supporters of the victim and some of the accused on the day before. Tensions still increased during Wednesday’s hearing.
Causing the day’s most heated exchanges, two of the defence lawyers representing men Dominique invited to his family home to commit abuse asked the court to display photos which they said raised doubts whether the victim was aware of what happened to her.
Gisèle fiercely rejected the claims. “They’re trying to trap me with these photos,” she said, reiterating she never agreed to any sexual activity. Her former husband said he took all the images while his wife was knocked out.
“I have felt humiliated while I’ve been in this courtroom. I have been called an alcoholic, a conspirator of Mr. Pélicot,” she said, adding her life had been “destroyed” for 10 years.
“In the state I was in, I absolutely could not respond. I was in a comatose state; the videos show that.”
Gisèle and her lawyers say the preponderance of evidence — thousands of videos and photos shot by her ex-husband of men having sex with her while she appears unconscious — should be enough to prove she is a victim, entirely unaware of what Dominique was subjecting her to from at least 2011 until 2020.
But on Wednesday, defence lawyers focused their questions on the notion of consent and whether she was aware of what was happening at any time during some of the 90 sexual encounters that prosecutors believe were rapes.
“Don’t you have tendencies that you are not comfortable with?” one lawyer asked her.
“I’m not even going to answer this question, which I find insulting,” she responded, her voice breaking. “I understand that victims of rape don’t press charges. We really spill everything out into the open to humiliate the victim.”
Gisèle Pélicot arrives at the Avignon court house, in Avignon, southern France, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, where her ex-husband admitted in court that for nearly a decade, he repeatedly drugged his unwitting wife and invited dozens of men to rape her while she lay unconscious.
Diane Jantet / The Associated Press
At one point, Dominique came out in support of his ex-wife, saying, “Stop suspecting her all the time … I did many things without her knowing.”
Gisèle, who was married to her husband for 50 years and shares three children with him, has become a hero to many rape victims and a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France for agreeing to waive her anonymity in the case, letting the trial be public and appearing openly in front of the media.
— with files from Reuters and The Associated Press
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If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
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