We are withdrawing for deliberations and will not come out again until we have a decision.
This was said by the presiding judge Roger Arata when the negotiations in Avignon in southern France ended earlier in the week. The judges have to take a stand on the prosecutor's request for imprisonment ranging from 4 to 20 years for approximately 50 accused men.
Harshest punishment
Dominique Pelicot is the main person in the case and has become known as the "monster from Avignon". He is accused of having drugged his wife Gisèle for almost ten years, raping her himself and inviting other men to assault her.
On films from the assaults in the village of Mazan in southern France, investigators have found at least 70 perpetrators. However, only about 50 have been identified and subsequently put on trial along with Pelicot.
The prosecutor demanded the harshest possible punishment for the husband in November.
20 years' imprisonment is both a lot and too little, said prosecutor Laure Chabaud in court according to French media.
Sparked debate
She continued to say that for Dominique Pelicot, it will likely mean a life sentence, given that he is now 72 years old. But was clearly dissatisfied with the fact that the penalty scale does not go higher.
It is too little in light of the seriousness of these repeated actions.
Both the case itself and the penalty scale have sparked a debate about legislation in France. According to French law, it can be considered rape when it involves a sexual act with "violence, restraint, threat, or surprise". However, consent is not mentioned, which has led to the Swedish so-called consent law from 2018 being mentioned as an example of how French law could be updated.
On the 100 list
The wife Gisèle, who has now divorced and changed her surname, has received support from all over the world.
She had "the right to remain anonymous according to the law, but asked for an open trial and for videos (from the assaults) to be shown, to show that it is the defendants who should feel ashamed", wrote BBC when she was named one of the 100 most influential women of 2024. The British media company's motivation continued that "women all over the world have been inspired by this French grandmother, who hopes that her case will change French law and the view on rape and consent".
The case has become known in France as the Affaire des viols de Mazan ("The Rape Case in Mazan"), named after the village where the Pelicot couple lived during the years when the assaults took place.
Dominique Pelicot has come to be called the "monster from Avignon" (the nearest larger city) and one of France's worst sex offenders ever.
He was revealed quite by chance in 2020, when a security guard saw him trying to film under women's skirts at a shopping center with his phone. The police went through both Pelicot's phone and other electronics, and found tens of thousands of films and other evidence of assaults that had been going on since 2011.
The films also made it possible to identify over 50 other men, whom Pelicot had contacted via internet forums. Charges for rape were brought against all suspected men in 2023, and the trial has been held this autumn.
However, another 20 men on the films have not been identified.
