A mammoth rape trial in France moved into a new phase as prosecutors began to lay out the verdicts and punishments they want for dozens of men accused of raping Gisele Pelicot while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband.
After hearings stretching over nearly three months, the trial of 51 defendants in the southern city of Avignon is beginning to wrap up.
Pelicot's courage during the harrowing proceedings has helped transform her into an icon, even beyond France, for campaigners fighting against sexual violence.
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The public prosecutors started on Monday by focusing on Dominique Pelicot, the man that 71-year-old Gisèle Pelicot was married to for nearly 50 years and who she believed was a loving, caring husband.
But he has admitted that for years he mixed sedatives into her food and drink so he could rape her and also invite dozens of strangers that he recruited online to also rape her.
Prosecutor Laure Chabaud asked the panel of judges for the maximum possible penalty for aggravated rape — 20 years — against the victim's now ex-husband. Dominique Pelicot, who turns 72 this week, stared down at the floor, one hand on the handle of his cane, as the prosecutor spoke.
"Twenty years between the four walls of a prison," she said. "It's both a lot and not enough."
The court is expected to deliver its verdicts by December 20.
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Gisele Pelicot, who waived her right to anonymity, has pushed for graphic images that her husband filmed of the rapes to be presented in the courtroom, showing that she was unconscious and inert, audibly snoring.
"This woman was you, Madame Gisele Pelicot, an ordinary woman," said prosecutor Jean-François Mayet, turning to her, as he praised her courage and her desire to make shame change sides, so it falls on rapists and not their victims.
He noted that Monday also marked the international day for the elimination of violence against women and said that France faceD "a long path for our society to change its view of rape culture."
Gisele Pelicot sat quietly, sometimes staring up the ceiling, as the prosecutors detailed how Dominique Pelicot amassed and carefully catalogued a library of 20,000 photos and videos of the abuse that stretched over nearly a decade.
The evidence that he stored on hard drives, memory sticks and phones led investigators to dozens of the men he recruited, although about 20 others haven't yet been identified.
All but one of the defendants are on trial for aggravated rape or attempted rape. In previous testimony, she said they treated her "like a rag doll, like a garbage bag."
The defendants and alleged rapes are so numerous that the prosecutors were expected to take three days to summarize the evidence and detail the verdicts and sentences they want.
In the first cases that the prosecutors focused on Monday, after requesting 20 years imprisonment for Dominique Pelicot, they asked for sentences of 10 years or more for co-defendants also on trial for rape or attempted rape.
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