Browsing: French mass rape trial

Almost all of Friday’s front pages lead with French rape victim Gisèle Pelicot after her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for drugging and raping her – and inviting 50 other men to rape her whilst she was unconscious, over ten years.

All the men were convicted on at least one charge.

Gisèle Pelicot’s case has garnered global attention, notably because she waived the right to anonymity and, along with the fact her ex-husband filmed the attacks over the decade, there was so much evidence to present publicly – something not common with rape cases.

Following the sentencing, Pelicot stood outside the court and told the public she did not regret going public with the case and told sex abuse survivors that they “share the same fight”.

Away from Pelicot, there is coverage of the UK economy as the papers react after the Bank of England’s downgrading of the economy’s growth outlook.

Lord Mandelson is expected to be named as the UK’s next ambassador to the US, whilst online many news sites report on a looming US government shutdown.

  As the moon rises over Avignon’s city walls, the night before the verdicts are announced, it is just high enough to illuminate the banner…

Judges in France are set to deliver verdicts today for 51 men involved in a mass rape trial that has stunned the nation. The case centres around Dominique Pelicot, 72, who is accused of drugging his ex-wife, Gisèle, raping her, and orchestrating a series of sexual assaults by dozens of men over nearly a decade.

Agnès Fichot will never forget that day in 1977 when, just a few years out of law school, she picked up the phone to call…

Since the start of the Pelicot mass rape trial, there has been talk of the defendants’ sexuality. In particular, the defense and experts invited to…

  Pelicot rape trial: Time for humility There were just a few more words left. The last ones from the 50 defendants – the 51st…

Mass rape trial: 50 defendants make their final statements One last word each. After three and a half months, on the 64th day of the…

Béatrice Zavarro was sworn in in 1996 and still wears the same dress, doing what she can to mend her worn-in collar or patched fabric…

Justice is often depicted as the blindfolded goddess Themis, a symbol of impartiality. For almost three months now, in the Avignon criminal court, southern France,…

A lawyer for the chief defendant in a French mass rape trial on Wednesday, November 27, 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.

A new page was turned in the Pelicot rape trial on Wednesday, November 27, with the end of three days of the prosecutions’ closing arguments…

On September 12, 2020, Jean-François Mayet, on call at the prosecutor’s office in the southeastern French town of Carpentras, was informed about the arrest of…

  French prosecutors on Tuesday, November 26, demanded sentences of up to 15 years for the remaining co-defendants in the trial of a man charged…

Fifty-one men of all ages, professions and origins have been on trial in Avignon, southern France, since September. All but one, who is on the…

Russia’s record bombing of Ukraine leads much of the bloc’s major news sites this morning as Ukraine’s air force says it has shot down 76 Russian drones in 17 regions, whilst another 95 were lost from their radars or downed by electronic jamming defensive systems in overnights attacks.

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel also dominates much of the European news. A formidable feature of European politics, Merkel served Germany for 16 years. Today, her memoir Freedom is released. The highly anticipated memoir confronts criticisms of her policies on Russia and migration, which some say left Germany overly dependent on Russian gas and has fueled the rise of the far right in the Deutschland.

The conclusion of the mass rape trial in France finds plenty of space as prosecutors demand the maximum sentence for Gisèle Pelicot’s ex-husband and women around the world protesting for an end to violence against women. Much of the European media – including the UK – are running various campaigns and stories around violence towards women, sexual assault and calls for governments to do better.

French mass rape trial: Court to hear prosecutors’ sentencing requests With evidence over in the trial of a man who drugged his wife for years…