Dominique Pelicot, Frenchman accused of mass rape of wife, admits to charges

PARIS: Dominique Pelicot, the Frenchman accused of drugging his wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her over a decade, on Tuesday (Sep 17) admitted to the various criminal charges he faces in a closely-watched trial.
“I admit to the charges in their entirety,” Pelicot, 71, was cited as saying by BFM TV, whose reporter was present in the courthouse.
Pelicot is accused of administering anti-anxiety drugs to his former wife over a period of almost a decade, from 2011 to 2020.
While she was unconscious, he would rape her and recruited dozens of other men he met online to do the same.
Prosecutors have said Pelicot offered sex with his wife on a website and filmed the abuse.
“I am a rapist, like the others in this room,” Pelicot said, referring to the 50 other defendants in the mass trial – men he allegedly recruited online to rape his then-wife Gisele.
Gisele, now aged 72, insisted on a public trial to expose him and the other men accused of raping her.
Pelicot has admitted the charges, but this was the first time he had spoken at any length since the trial began on Sep 2.
He had been due to testify last week but his appearance was delayed due to health issues. 
Beatrice Zavarro, the defendant’s lawyer, told AFP on Monday that he was suffering from “a clot in the bladder” and the beginning of a kidney infection.
But a medical exam ordered by the presiding judge found that he was in a fit state to appear in court, avoiding a delay of weeks or even months to the hearings.
Adjustments would be made to the “sequencing of the hearings” and Pelicot would get “regular rest”, Zavarro said, adding that the health complaints were not an attempt by her client to escape justice.
Pelicot’s testimony will be decisive for the 50 other men aged 26 to 74 on trial. The cases of four co-accused are set to be heard in the coming days.
Some of the accused have admitted that he told them he was drugging his then-wife, while others claim they believed they were participating in a swinger couple’s fantasy.
The case has prompted outrage across France, with thousands demonstrating in cities at the weekend to demand an end to rape and support Gisele.
She requested that the trial be open to the public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.
“Thanks to you I have the strength to see this fight through to the end,” Gisele told demonstrators Monday.