Defence lawyers plead to judges in French mass rape trial • FRANCE 24 English

A lawyer for the chief defendant in a French mass rape trial on Wednesday urged the court to recall his good side after prosecutors demanded lengthy jail terms for the dozens of suspects. The main defendant, Dominique Pelicot, has admitted enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his then-wife while she was drugged and unconscious.
#France #rape #trial

[fay]

The website was called "without her consent"...they knew perfectly well what they were getting into !!!

[alaakela]

I am sick and tired of blaming every criminal act on "childhood trauma". Millions more ppl experience childhood trauma and don't become criminals or grapists. You are an adult. Over 70. And still blaim childhood trauma? Enough is enough. Hold ppl accountable.

[minavanderleest]

His 'good side'? He HAS no good side. He threw away his entire reputation with his actions.

[ronturner]

Protect himself from a murder charge is more like it. Allowing her to breathe described as a positive behaviour is insane.

[Humanity_Hope_]

Each man is responsible for his actions
From the first chat, to the physical encounter, all had time to reconsider
All had the opportunity to stop at any time

[erikt]

"An absence of violence" is really nonsense. As this was a case of chemical submission no other violence was necessary to restrain the victim. A tough childhood can explain how someone develops into a criminal but it does not take away his guilt. It is just the only piece of her defense that has any substance at all. The rest, that he "wanted to be caught" is irrelevant, the "love at first sight" is irrelevant and so is his poem.

[lawdeedaw]

Ugh. That's the most disgusting closing argument I've ever heard of. Also, "without violence"???? How is drugging someone repeatedly, to the extent that she suffered from multiple medical issues and pain, not "violence"???

[LisaJohnson-hf]

The defense needs to shut the hell up. Rape is Rape! If anything, each perpetrator should serve 20 years for Each act of RAPE, and not just 20 years as if it only occurred ONE DAMN TIME!

[MarthaLampley]

He didn't want to be caught. He just thought he could continue his actions without consequences. He thought he could get away with it forever. After all, he'd been doing it for over 10 years

[BondiBronteTama]

No violence? What about that Gisele Pelicot stated that on waking she had felt pain like she had given birth and attended gynaecology appointments to try to figure out why she was experiencing this.

[lucylocket]

He told the other men to "go slow" so that she could breathe to make sure that she didn't die. He didn't want to get caught and he didn't want to be accused of murder. He had no consideration for her well-being whatsoever. You cannot force a man to rape anybody. He participated in a gang rape, he wasn't forced to do it. He didn't force the two men to rape his wife because it's impossible to do it. All it proves is that he is a predator and a repeat offender, who is still dangerous even though he is elderly. He should be locked away for the rest of his life.

[immoosiesmom]

She was not asleep she was unconscious. Use the proper terminology. Asleep means you can wake up.

[BL-sdqw]

SA is NEVER about lovemaking or love. The whole point is to harm the victim; that's why it's *violence*.

[gbarbecue]

Unconscious, not asleep.

Asleep brings the assumption one can wake. Unconscious by definition means out for the count with little to no chance of awakening for a certain amount of time.

Probably why surgeon's don't nip in and remove your appendix during nap time.

[JosannaMonik]

I understand that this lawyer's role was to protect the husband, but to say that he was protecting his wife was utter nonsense. He just didn't want her to die as he would have been responsible for her death.

[tmoleary]

"this whole affair"....please stop calling it "the affair". Its a crime not and affair.

[rsstenger]

I know that the defense lawyer is trying to do her job, but come 🙄 😠

[Maybe-cgtn]

There is nothing but nothing that could be any kind of excuse for their behavior. Mr. Pelicot should be charged with attempted murder. She could have died from all the drugs he gave her.

[sarahscott]

Rape can NOT be a nonviolent act. It challenges what we call violence, but rape IS violence, it is dehumanization.

[PPPPSSSSCCCC]

Violence occurs when a person resists.. She was unconcious, how was she supposed to to resist??
She wasnt even aware for years..
If a person thinks even for a second of her psychi, the fact that her husband used her as a sex object for other people's pleasure is the most violent of all crimes ever...