France: French prosecutors on Monday demanded a maximum 20-year prison sentence for the man accused of recruiting dozens of strangers to rape his drugged wife, in a trial that shook France.
Dominique Bellicot has been on trial in the southern city of Avignon since September, along with 49 other men, on charges of organizing the rape and sexual assault of Giselle Bellicot, his now ex-wife.
One man is being tried in absentia.
This case shocked France, which, like other countries, has witnessed a series of sexual assault cases, and the prosecutor told the court that the trial needed to herald a radical change in relations between men and women.
Prosecutor Laure Chapeau said: “Twenty years is a lot because it is 20 years of life.”
“But it is a lot and very little. Very little, given the seriousness of the acts that were committed and repeated.”
Dominic admitted to all charges linked to supplying Giselle with anti-anxiety medications from 2011 to 2020, which left her vulnerable to abuse by strangers recruited online.
He documented the crimes with photos and videos that the police discovered after he was caught photographing women’s skirts in public places.
“It’s a very emotional moment,” Giselle said as she entered the courtroom.
Radical change
Prosecutors must also seek penalties for the other defendants: men between the ages of 26 and 74 from all walks of life.
“This trial shakes our society in our relationship with each other, in the most intimate relationships between human beings,” said Jean-François Mayet, another prosecutor.
He added that French society must “understand our needs, emotions and desires and, above all, take into account the needs of others.”
He added that what is at stake is “not conviction or acquittal,” but rather “radically changing relations between men and women.”
Several of the defendants argued in court that they believed Dominic’s claim that they were engaging in a debauched fantasy, in which his then-wife consented to sexual intercourse and was only pretending to be asleep.
Among them, 33 people also claimed that they were not in their right mind when they abused or raped Gisele – a defense not supported by any psychological report compiled by court-appointed experts.
“In 2024, we can no longer say: ‘Since she didn’t say anything, she agreed,’” Chabo said. “Defendants cannot ignore the absence of consent.”
Sentencing requests are scheduled to take three full days, and prosecutors estimate the average time per defendant is 15 minutes.
Most of them, including Dominic, are charged with aggravated rape.
“The facts and character of each defendant were taken into account even in our sentencing requests,” Mayet said.