Gisele Pelicot: Husband ‘destroyed’ and betrayed me, says woman at centre of France mass rape trial
The woman at the centre of a mass rape trial in France has said she cannot comprehend how the “perfect man” betrayed her – as she spoke in court for the first time.
Gisele Pelicot, 72, was sedated and raped by her former husband Dominique Pelicot.
For almost a decade, he crushed sleeping pills and other anti-anxiety drugs into her food and drink and allegedly recruited men online to rape her.
He’s already admitted his crimes, carried out between 2011 and 2020, and said he organised dozens of men to come to the house and rape her while she was comatose.
Supported by family, Ms Pelicot was applauded as she arrived at court on Wednesday.
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The woman at the centre of the France mass rape trial
She spoke directly to her ex-husband during the testimony
“I still don’t understand how this man who was the perfect man could do this, could destroy my life and betray me,” she said.
“I haven’t been able to look Dominique Pelicot in the face – but today I talk to him,” she said as part of a statement at the mid-point of the trial.
“We have 50 years together. I was a happy wife; we have three kids and seven grandkids.
“You were a good husband and a good man, and I trusted you. I never doubted you,” she said, beginning to cry.
But this good man, she told the court, was responsible for her being raped 100 times.
Ms Pelicot expressed anger and disbelief that he allegedly allowed people in their bedroom when he knew she was against swinging.
Demonstrations in support of Gisele Pelicot have been taking place across France. Pic: AP
When she became sick, he accompanied her to the gynaecologist but nobody suspected a thing, she told the court.
“My life has been turned upside down. You chose to do this,” she told him.
The judge asked about their mealtime routine, referring to evidence that Dominique Pelicot had slipped drugs into her food.
Gisele Pelicot said he had made lots of meals and often brought her ice cream afterwards.
“I thought ‘wow’, I’m lucky to have a husband who looks after me like this,” she told the court, explaining she was totally unaware the food was drugged.
She said she must have fallen asleep quickly, as she often woke up tired and in her pyjamas.
If she was raped in the day, she said her husband must have drugged her orange juice.
During questioning, she was asked if she thought her ex-husband had acted out of vengeance.
She said she had considered he might have been trying to punish her after she had a lover once in their relationship, around 30 years ago.
A sketch of Dominique Pelicot during the trial last month. Pic: Reuters
Ms Pelicot also said her former husband had talked about mistresses.
Forty-nine of the 51 men on trial, including Dominique Pelicot, are accused of rape, one of attempted rape and one of sexual assault.
A few admit the charges but say they did not intend to commit rape.
Most, however, deny the allegations, with some claiming they believed they were part of a game between the couple.
The men are aged between 26 and 74 and most lived in southeast France. Among them are a journalist, soldier and lorry driver.
They face up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
‘I am a destroyed woman’
Gisele Pelicot said she had waived her right to anonymity and allowed videos of the attacks to be shown in court because “it makes people see the truth”.
During her statement, she also addressed the women who had given evidence in support of the co-defendants.
“When I hear mothers, sisters and partners talk about their men as normal… the profile of a rapist can be normal, can be a friend or a family man,” she said.
“Can you imagine what that does to me? That I was accused of pretending to be asleep and that I was aware of what was happening. It’s violent.”
She said she was a “destroyed woman” and was getting psychological help.
Gisele Pelicot pictured at court on 16 October. Pic: AP
Despite the trauma, she said she wanted to offer hope and strength to other victims: “I wanted that all victims of rape could say, ‘well if Gisele can do it, we can do it’.
“Because when we are raped, we have shame, but it’s not for us to be ashamed, but for those men,” she declared.
She said she was hurt when a defence lawyer asked her at what point the sexual activity was rape.
“They did this to an unconscious woman. Rape is a rape,” she said, becoming emotional.
Reacting to some defendants apologising, she said it would have been apparent when they touched her that she was not conscious.
“They are apologising to themselves, not to me,” she said.
‘He found sex elsewhere’
Earlier on Wednesday, the court heard from the partners of some of the men accused of raping the 72-year-old.
The wife of one said that because she refused him sex “he found it elsewhere”.
The 45-year-old described her husband Jean Luc-L as “a good husband and father”.
She said their life was normal, adding: “He never hit me. I often refused sex. He insisted but then if I refused, he would be unhappy and then leave”.
Recalling when police told her about the claims, the mother of two said: “I was in shock, but I think that because I refused him sex, as a man, that’s why he found it elsewhere.”
Hearing the comment, Ms Pelicot expressed surprise through her lawyer.
“I understand Gisele’s position,” the co-defendant’s wife said.
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The lawyer asked her about Ms Pelicot’s surprise at her comment: “It’s because I kept refusing and for a long time,” she replied, prompting audible gasps from some in court.
“I understand what my husband did to Gisele is unacceptable and I share her pain,” she said.
The woman said she had not left her husband and still visited him in prison.
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Another woman, the ex-partner of Florian R, described him as “a normal guy”.
“We were good, we were normal,” she said, explaining they have children but split up in 2019.
The 37-year-old said their sex life had been “normal”, “basic” and did not involve fantasies.
Talking about when she heard he was being investigated, she said: “Initially I thought he was in trouble with the police because he was with a girl who I thought was too young… she was 14 years old.”
She said they still talked on the phone due to their children, who she had taken to visit him in jail.
The trial in Avignon is expected to continue until the end of the year.
World
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh being forced to fight for same military accused of genocide against their people
Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh is a sprawling mass of humanity.
It’s a sea of makeshift bamboo shelters, home to more than one million Rohingya refugees – a mainly Muslim minority from Rakhine state in Myanmar.
Some 700,000 fled their homeland back in 2017 – after the Myanmar military massacred thousands.
The army was accused of genocide by the United Nations.
The Rohingya refugees didn’t escape danger though.
Right now, violence is at its worst levels in the camps since 2017 and Rohingya people face a particularly cruel new threat – they’re being forced back to fight for the same Myanmar military accused of trying to wipe out their people.
A child at the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar
Militant groups are recruiting Rohingya men in the camps, some at gunpoint, and taking them back to Myanmar to fight for a force that’s losing ground.
Jaker is just 19.
We’ve changed his name to protect his identity.
He says he was abducted at gunpoint last year by a group of nine men in Cox’s.
They tied his hands with rope he says and took him to the border where he was taken by boat with three other men to fight for the Myanmar military.
“It was heartbreaking,” he told me. “They targeted poor children. The children of wealthy families only avoided it by paying money.”
And he says the impact has been deadly.
“Many of our Rohingya boys, who were taken by force from the camps, were killed in battle.”
Jaker speaks to Sky’s Cordelia Lynch
An aerial view of the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar
The situation in Cox’s is desperate.
People are disillusioned by poverty, violence and the plight of their own people and the civil war they ran from is getting worse.
In Rakhine, just across the border, there’s been a big shift in dynamics.
The Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group has all but taken control of the state from the ruling military junta.
Both the military and the AA are accused of committing atrocities against Rohingya Muslims.
And whilst some Rohingya claim they’re being forced into the fray – dragged back to Myanmar from Bangladesh, others are willing to go.
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Some are so aggrieved with the AA, they’re willing to support their former persecutors.
Abu Zar is one of those willing to take up arms.
But not for the military or AA, he says.
Everyone praying in the mosque with him is prepared to go back to protect their own cause he says – not anyone else’s.
“We want to fight for our rights because we have been demanding justice for a long time. But the situation has become unbearable,” he tells me.
Abu Zar has said he is willing to take up arms for his own cause
It’s estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 Rohingya have joined armed groups from this camp.
But the fight they are joining has become increasingly bloody.
In a cramped shelter, we meet Safura.
Safura came under fire as she fled Myanmar
Safura’s son Aman had his foot blown off
Five days ago she managed to get out of Myanmar but she had to be carried part of the way.
Her legs are riddled with bullet wounds and the pain is severe.
Her son, Aman, who lies on the floor next to her, has had his foot blown off.
They were injured she said, during an attack on her family home in the middle of the night.
“They entered our house and shot all my family members. My husband and mother-in-law were killed on the spot.”
The military denies forcing Rohingya to the battlefield. But the camps tell a different story- one of surging violence and vulnerability.
US President Donald Trump has told Gazans to hand over Israeli hostages or “you are dead”.
The threat, made over social media, came hours after the White House confirmed that US officials had broken with tradition to hold direct talks with Hamas.
The US has previously avoided direct contact with the group owing to Washington’s longstanding position not to negotiate with terrorists – with Hamas having been designated as a terrorist group in the US since 1997.
In a press conference on Wednesday, White House press secretary Ms Keavitt said there had been “ongoing talks and discussions” between the US officials and Hamas.
File pic: AP
But she would not be drawn on the substance of the talks – taking place in Doha, Qatar – between US officials and Hamas, but said Israel had been consulted.
Ms Leavitt continued: “Dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what’s in the best interest of the American people, is something that the president has proven is what he believes is a good faith, effort to do what’s right for the American people.”
There are “American lives at stake,” she added.
Adam Boehler, Mr Trump’s pick to be special envoy for hostage affairs, participated in the direct talks with Hamas.
A spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had “expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas”.
Hours later, Mr Trump warned Hamas to hand over Israeli hostages or “it’s over for you” – adding: “This is your last warning”.
Hamas militants on the day of a hostage handover in Gaza in February. Pic: Reuters
On his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump wrote: “Release all of the hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered or it is over for you.
“Only sick and twisted people keep bodies and you are sick and twisted. I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say.”
Mr Trump met with freed Israeli hostages on Wednesday, something he referenced in his social media post, before adding: “This is your last warning. For the leadership of Hamas, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance.
“Also, to the people of Gaza, a beautiful future awaits, but not if you hold hostages. If you do, you are dead. Make a smart decision. Release the hostages now, or there will be hell to pay later.”
Israel estimates about 24 living hostages, including American citizen Edan Alexander, and the bodies of at least 35 others, are still believed to be in Gaza.
Donald Trump with Benjamin Netanyahu in February. Pic: Reuters
The US has a long-held policy of not negotiating with terrorists – which it is breaking with these talks as Hamas has been designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US government’s National Counterterrorism Center since 1997.
The discussions come as a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire continues to hold, but its future is uncertain.
Palestinians amid the rubble in the southern Gaza strip. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump has signalled he has no intention of pushing the Israeli prime minister away from a return to combat if Hamas does not agree to terms of a new ceasefire proposal – which, Israel says, has been drafted by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
The new plan would require Hamas to release half its remaining hostages – the group’s main bargaining chip – in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
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Israel has made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners, a key component of the first phase.
Fighting in Gaza has been halted since 19 January.
Hamas has exchanged 33 Israeli and five Thai hostages for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Donald Trump has admitted his tariffs on major trading partners will cause “a little disturbance” – as China said it was “ready” for “any type of war” with the US.
The US president made his comments in an address to Congress, hours after the levies on imports came into effect.
Producers in Mexico and Canada have been hit with a 25% tax on items they export to the US, while a 20% tariff has been applied to Chinese imports.
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Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The US president has admitted his tariffs will cause ‘a little disturbance’ – as China responds. Pic: Reuters/AP
Stock markets, which Mr Trump is said to pay close attention to, slid on the tariffs news.
Exporters in the affected countries as well as businesses in the US and economists have raised concerns about the potential price-raising impact of the tariffs.
Making imports more expensive will likely make goods more expensive and could push prices up across the board.
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Concern over threat to interest rates
A cycle of high inflation could lead to interest rates being higher for longer in the US, the world’s largest economy, which could dampen economic activity.
A slowed US economy would have global consequences but even without a hit to the States, there are fears of a global trade war – in which countries add their own trade barriers in the form of tariffs.
The Chinese embassy in the US posted on X: “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.”
China imposes retaliatory tariffs
The president, however, said he was “just getting started” after 43 days into his second term.
China and Canada have retaliated with their own tariffs against the US.
From next week China will add its own 15% levy on a range of agricultural products such as chicken, wheat, corn and cotton.
An extra 10% will be added to soya beans, pork, beef, fruit, vegetables and dairy products imports.
The country has also raised additional complaints against the US with the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
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Speaking to Sky News presenter Yalda Hakim the US former deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger said Chinese president Xi Jinping was turning the Chinese economy “into a wartime economy”
“He’s preparing his economy for war so that it can withstand the shocks of war,” he said on The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim podcast
“That means he’s willing to undergo massive inefficiencies in the economy. He’s willing to stockpile food that otherwise would flow easily and more cheaply in from foreign vessels.”
“He’s stockpiling copper and all kinds of inputs into the economy. He is making sure that the private sector is wholly aligned with his broad goals, which are about increasing the Chinese Communist Party’s control over the economy and creating a bigger, better defence industrial base,” Mr Pottinger said.
“He’s preparing for war.”
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Compromise ‘as early as Wednesday’?
Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau said his country was launching its own WTO challenge and described the US tariffs as a “dumb thing to do”.
He also warned the move by the Trump administration would impact American workplaces and add to inflation in the US.
Addressing the American public, he said: “We don’t want this… but your government has chosen to do this to you.”
Canada has announced the imposition of 25% tariffs on US imports worth C$30bn (£16.3bn).
But US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick struck a different note on tariffs and on Monday said the president will “probably” announce a compromise with Canada and Mexico as early as Wednesday.
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