French judge in mass rape trial will allow public to see videos of the alleged attacks in court

Published

9 months ago

October 4, 2024

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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.

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.

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.

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”.

World

Donald Trump sending ‘top of the line’ weapons to support NATO in Ukraine war

Published

8 hours ago

July 15, 2025

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Donald Trump sending 'top of the line' weapons to support NATO in Ukraine war

Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.

Speaking with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.

“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States, going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”

Follow the latest here

It comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had a “very good conversation” with Mr Trump late on Monday. He thanked him for the “willingness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings”.

Weapons being sent from to Ukraine include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which the country has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.

Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.

The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.

Mr Zelenskyy previously criticised Vladimir Putin’s “desire to drag [the war] out”, and said Kyiv was “working on major defence agreements with America”.

It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump over Mr Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.

During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call”, but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.

Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Mr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.

After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”

Meanwhile, Mr Zelenskyy met with US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Kyiv, where they “discussed the path to peace” by “strengthening Ukraine’s air defence, joint production, and procurement of defence weapons in collaboration with Europe”.

He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.

World

Trump announces weapons deal with NATO to help Ukraine – as he gives Putin 50-day ultimatum

Published

22 hours ago

July 14, 2025

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Trump announces weapons deal with NATO to help Ukraine - as he gives Putin 50-day ultimatum

Donald Trump has agreed to send “top of the line weapons” to NATO to support Ukraine – and threatened Russia with “severe” tariffs if it doesn’t agree to end the war.

Speaking with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte during a meeting at the White House, the US president said: “We’ve made a deal today where we are going to be sending them weapons, and they’re going to be paying for them.

“This is billions of dollars worth of military equipment which is going to be purchased from the United States,” he added, “going to NATO, and that’s going to be quickly distributed to the battlefield.”

Follow the latest here

Weapons being sent include surface-to-air Patriot missile systems and batteries, which Ukraine has asked for to defend itself from Russian air strikes.

Mr Trump also said he was “very unhappy” with Russia, and threatened “severe tariffs” of “about 100%” if there isn’t a deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days.

The White House added that the US would put “secondary sanctions” on countries that buy oil from Russia if an agreement was not reached.

It comes after weeks of frustration from Mr Trump against Vladimir Putin’s refusal to agree to an end to the conflict, with the Russian leader telling the US president he would “not back down” from Moscow’s goals in Ukraine at the start of the month.

During the briefing on Monday, Mr Trump said he had held calls with Mr Putin where he would think “that was a nice phone call,” but then “missiles are launched into Kyiv or some other city, and that happens three or four times”.

“I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy,” he added.

Earlier this year, Mr Trump told Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy “you’re gambling with World War Three” in a fiery White House meeting, and suggested Ukraine started the war against Russia as he sought to negotiate an end to the conflict.

After Mr Trump’s briefing, Russian senator Konstantin Kosachev said on Telegram: “If this is all that Trump had in mind to say about Ukraine today, then all the steam has gone out.”

He thanked both the envoy for the visit and Mr Trump “for the important signals of support and the positive decisions for both our countries”.

World

At least 30 dead and 100 injured as armed groups clash in Syria, officials say

Published

1 day ago

July 14, 2025

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At least 30 dead and 100 injured as armed groups clash in Syria, officials say

At least 30 people have been killed in the Syrian city of Sweida in clashes between local military groups and tribes, according to Syria’s interior ministry.

Officials say initial figures suggest around 100 people have also been injured in the city, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups.

The interior ministry said its forces will directly intervene to resolve the conflict, which the Reuters news agency said involved fighting between Druze gunmen and Bedouin Sunni tribes.

It marks the latest episode of sectarian violence in Syria, where fears among minority groups have increased since Islamist-led rebels toppled President Bashar al Assad in December, installing their own government and security forces.

The violence reportedly erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Sweida.

Last April, Sunni militia clashed with armed Druze residents of Jaramana, southeast of Damascus, and fighting later spread to another district near the capital.

But this is the first time the fighting has been reported inside the city of Sweida itself, the provincial capital of the mostly Druze province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports the fighting was centred in the Maqwas neighbourhood east of Sweida and villages on the western and northern outskirts of the city.

It adds that Syria’s Ministry of Defence has deployed military convoys to the area.

Western nations, including the US and UK, have been increasingly moving towards normalising relations with Syria.

Concerns among minority groups have intensified following the killing of hundreds of Alawites in March, in apparent retaliation for an earlier attack carried out by Assad loyalists.

That was the deadliest sectarian flare-up in years in Syria, where a 14-year civil war ended with Assad fleeing to Russia after his government was overthrown by rebel forces.

The city of Sweida is in southern Syria, about 24 miles (38km) north of the border with Jordan.