For the first time after September 2 he confessed to all the charges brought against him at the start of the trial, the BBC reports.
Speaking about the 50 defendants accused of raping his now-ex-wife Gisèle, Pelicot said: “I am a rapist like everyone else in this room. They all knew, they can’t say otherwise,” he said.
A symbol of courage
Only 15 of the 50 accused pleaded guilty to rape, most saying they had only participated in sexual acts.
D. Pelicot said about his ex-wife: “She didn’t deserve it. I was very happy with her.”
Gisèle, who was soon given the opportunity to respond, said: “It’s hard for me to listen to. For fifty years I have lived with a man who I never would have thought would be capable of this. I trusted him completely.”
Although cameras are not allowed in court, the hearing is open to the public at the request of Gisèle Pelicot, who waived her right to anonymity at the start of the trial. She and her legal team wanted the “shame” to be placed on the defendant’s shoulders when the trial was opened.
Gisèle received applause from the audience as she left the courtroom during a recess on Tuesday and smiled as she accepted a bouquet of flowers.
Since the start of the trial, Gisèle has become a symbol of resilience and courage. Thousands of people gathered in French cities last weekend to show support for her and other rape victims, and the trial sparked a national dialogue about marital rape, consent and chemical submission.
He was abused as a child
Mr Pelicot, who is a father and grandfather, opened his evidence by telling the court about his traumatic childhood experiences, saying he was abused by a male carer when he was nine.
When asked about his marriage to Gisèle, D. Pelicot said that he considered suicide when he found out about her affair.
In his testimony on Tuesday morning, Mr Pelicot repeatedly told the court that he never felt hatred towards his wife and was in fact “crazy about her”, saying: “I loved her very much and still do”.
“I loved her well for 40 years and I loved her badly for 10 years,” he added, apparently referring to the decade during which he drugged and raped her while she was under the influence and allowed other men to do the same.
Mr. Pelicot was then interviewed by one of Gisèle’s lawyers, Stéphane Babonneau, who asked him why he could not find the will to stop abusing her, even when she began to have health problems.
During earlier stages of the trial, Gisèle said her hair and weight loss, along with severe memory lapses, made her worry she had Alzheimer’s disease or a brain tumor. It was actually a side effect of the medication her husband was giving her.
“I tried to quit, but my addiction got stronger, my need grew,” he said.
“I tried to calm her down, I betrayed her trust. I should have stopped earlier, in fact I shouldn’t have started at all,” he said.
“Became a Pervert”
Mr Pelicot is also accused of drugging and abusing his daughter Caroline after half-naked photos of her were found on his laptop. He has previously denied this and also said on Tuesday that he had never touched his grandchildren. “I can look my family in the eye and say there was nothing more,” he said.
D. Pelicot also said that he “became a pervert” when in 2010 met a male nurse online who offered to inject his wife with sedatives, explained how to administer them and shared photos of drugged women. “That’s when it all started,” D. Pelicot said.
During one part of Tuesday’s hearing, Mr. Pelicot was also asked about thousands of videos in which he filmed men raping his unconscious wife. They were found by investigators and helped track down 50 men who are now accused of rape.
Mr Pelicot admitted he filmed the men partly for “pleasure” but also “as a precaution”.
Throughout the morning, Mr. Pelicot seemed determined to refute one of the main defense arguments of the several defendants, which is based on the assumption that they “did not know” that they were raping Gisèle, in other words, they thought they were having consensual relations with her.
Mr. Pelicot met the defendants in a chat room called “Without Her Knowledge” on a now-closed website that hosted pornographic material.
“I didn’t force anyone, they came looking for me,” he said Tuesday. – They asked me if they could come, and I agreed. I have never handcuffed anyone or dragged anyone.”
Some said Pelicot had “manipulated” them and convinced them they were taking part in an erotic game in which Gisèle only pretended to be asleep because she was shy, while several denied knowing they were being filmed.
But Mr Pelicot said the only person he “manipulated” was his wife, and also said the men should have known they were being filmed: “There was a tripod and a camera attached to it, everyone could see it as soon as they walked in room.”
D. Pelicot said he wanted to prove that his wife “was a victim, not an accomplice.” To prove that everything happened without her knowledge. I know many (of the defendants) contested that.”
Pelicot’s lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, told French television that she did not know what people would think of her client, but she said he was “sharing his truth”.
She added that Mr Pelicot was “very depressed” and that while she did not know what his wife would say about his plea for forgiveness, “there is now a confession going on and he will continue with it”.
D. Pelicot, who was diagnosed with a kidney infection and kidney stones, was absent from court for almost a week due to illness. He intends to testify, although there will be frequent interruptions.
Source: www.15min.lt
