Warning: This story contains details and content that some readers may find distressing.
A French judge in the trial of dozens of men accused of raping an unconscious woman, whose now former husband had repeatedly drugged her so that he and others could assault her decided on Friday to allow the public to see some of the video recordings of the alleged rapes.
The decision by Judge Roger Arata in Avignon in southern France to allow journalists and members of the public attending the trial to see the recordings marks a stunning reversal in the case that has shaken France.
It comes after a two-week legal battle in which journalists following the trial and lawyers of Gisèle Pelicot — who was allegedly raped over the course of a decade — argued that the videos were crucial for a full understanding of the extraordinary trial.
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Pelicot, 71, has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France.
She has insisted that the trial be public, against the court’s suggestion that it be held behind closed doors.
Since the hearings started on September 2, 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.
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Her insistence that the videos, recorded by her ex-husband and submitted as evidence in the trial — in which men can be seen sexually abusing her apparently inert body — be shown to the public speak to her wish that trial serve as a national example, one of her lawyers told The Associated Press.
“It’s a unique case: we don’t have one representation of rape. We have dozens, hundreds of videos of a rape,” said the attorney, Stéphane Babonneau.
“Gisèle Pelicot thinks that this shock wave is necessary, so that no one can say after this: ‘I didn’t know this was rape’.”
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The explicit videos shown during the trial, which has underscored the difficulties that sexual violence victims can face in France, are especially important, Pelicot’s lawyers say, since the vast majority of the defendants deny the allegations of rape.
Some defendants claim Pelicot’s husband tricked them, others say he forced them to have sexual intercourse with her and that they were terrified.
Still 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 September 20 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 Pelicot’s lawyers.
Until now, each time a video was shown, journalists and members of the public had to leave the courtroom.
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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 that 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,” 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 Gisèle Pelicot to wake up.
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, Deniau said the video appeared to counter claims by the defendants of a consensual “game.”
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
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