French judge in mass rape trial will allow public to see videos of the alleged attacks in court
A French judge in the trial of 50 men accused of raping an unconscious woman has decided videos of the alleged sex attacks can be shown to the public in court.
Warning: This story contains distressing details of rape and sexual abuse
Gisele Pelicot, who has waived her right to anonymity, was allegedly drugged by her ex-husband before he invited strangers to rape her over the course of a decade.
The case has shaken France and led to hundreds of women protesting in Paris in support of Ms Pelicot, 71, and rape victims.
Judge Roger Arata’s decision to allow journalists and members of the public attending the trial to see footage of the alleged attacks marks a stunning reversal in the case.
It comes after a two-week legal battle in which journalists following the trial argued that the videos were crucial for a full understanding of the extraordinary case.
Ms Pelicot, who has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France, also wants the videos to be shown as she hopes the trial will serve as a national example, one of her lawyers, Stephane Babonneau, said.
The videos will allege to show men sexually abusing Ms Pelicot’s inert body.
Ms Pelicot earlier insisted that the trial be public, against the court in Avignon’s suggestion that it be held behind closed doors.
Since the hearings started on 2 September, Ms Pelicot has come face to face almost daily with her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, and 49 other alleged rapists.
Gisele Pelicot with her lawyer Stephane Babonneau at the courthouse in Avignon. Pic: Reuters
She has been praised for her courage and composure, admired for speaking in a calm and clear voice and allowing that her full name be published – uncommon under French law for victims in rape trials.
“It’s a unique case: we don’t have one representation of rape. We have dozens, hundreds of videos of rape,” Mr Babonneau said.
“Gisele Pelicot thinks that this shock wave is necessary so that no one can say after this, ‘I didn’t know this was rape’.”
The explicit videos shown during the trial, which have underscored the difficulties that sexual violence victims can face in France, are especially important, Ms Pelicot’s lawyers say, since the vast majority of the defendants deny the allegations of rape.
Some defendants claim Ms Pelicot’s husband tricked them, others say he forced them to have sexual intercourse with her and that they were terrified.
People take part in a gathering in support of Ms Pelicot in September. Pic: AP
Others argue they believed she was consenting or that her husband’s consent was sufficient.
The videos, the lawyers say, speak for themselves.
With Friday’s decision, Judge Arata reversed his earlier 20 September ruling that the videos would be shown only on a case-by-case basis, and behind closed doors.
At the time, he had argued that they undermined the “dignity” of the hearings.
A day later, France’s Judicial Press Association filed a request against the decision, backed by Ms Pelicot’s lawyers.
Until now, each time a video was shown, journalists and members of the public had to leave the courtroom.
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A sketch of Dominique Pelicot in court
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Victim of Dominique Pelicot speaks
Jean-Philippe Deniau, a journalist who covers the judiciary for France Inter Radio and who has followed the trial, says the videos are essential to the people’s understanding of the case.
They would be no more disturbing than some of the evidence he has seen in the past, he said.
“When we work on trials about terrorist attacks, crimes, murders … there are always difficult moments,” Mr Deniau said.
As an example, he mentioned hearing several defendants earlier this week testify they had come to the Pelicots’ house in Provence to have consensual sexual intercourse, and that they were taking part in a “game” to see if they could get Ms Pelicot to wake up.
Mr Deniau said that following the ruling on Friday, the court was later in the day shown one four-minute recording from the collection of videos.
In his opinion, Mr Deniau said the video appeared to counter claims by the defendants of a consensual “game”.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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IDF reservists call for end to war in Gaza
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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