(17 Sep 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Avignon, France – 17 September 2024
1. Several defendants coming out of courtroom during break, hiding their faces with masks, hoods, caps, sunglasses
2. SOUNDBITE (French) Beatrice Zavarro, lawyer representing Dominique Pélicot:
“Today, now as I saw him, he is of course very defeated. He asked his wife to forgive him for all that happened. I don’t know what Mrs. Pélicot will decide to do with this request. Nevertheless, he’s here, he will continue. It’s a confessional process. He will continue, for sure, don’t worry about this. I think we’ll go all the way down this trial and we’ll know everything about Dominique Pélicot.”
3. Cutaway of Zavarro talking to media
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Beatrice Zavarro, lawyer representing Dominique Pélicot:
“I think there are all the traumas he has already talked about and we’ll talk about them again: a rape at the Chateauroux hospital when he was 9-years-old, a collective rape where he was present and where some wanted him to participate when he was 14 years old, and also some scenes of sexual violence between his parents that he shouldn’t have seen because a 14-year-old kid mustn’t see that kind of thing. It disturbed him a lot, saddened and shocked him a lot and it determined the violence of this father which has already been highlighted.”
5. Gisele Pélicot going back inside courtroom after break
STORYLINE:
A 71-year-old French man accused of drugging his then-wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her over nearly a decade has pleaded with her for forgiveness, his lawyer said as he appeared in court to testify Tuesday.
“Today, now as I saw him, he is of course very defeated. He asked his wife to forgive him for all that happened,” Dominique Pélicot’s lawyer said. “I don’t know what Mrs. Pélicot will decide to do with this request. Nevertheless, he’s here, he will continue,” she added.
Speaking to reporters outside court, Pélicot’s lawyer also highlighted traumatic incidents in his past which "disturbed him a lot," including a collective rape he witnessed as a 14-year-old.
Pélicot’s testimony is the most important moment so far in a trial that has shocked and gripped the country, and raised new awareness about sexual violence. Many also hope his testimony will shed some light — to try to understand the unthinkable.
While he previously confessed to investigators, the court testimony will be crucial for the panel of judges to decide on the fate of some 50 other men standing trial alongside him. Many deny having raped Gisèle Pélicot, saying they were manipulated by her then-husband or claiming they believed she was consenting.
Gisèle Pélicot has become 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. She is expected to speak in court after her ex-husband’s testimony on Tuesday.
AP Video by Diane Jeantet
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