Sentences set for 51 men in gang rape trial that shocked France

Judges in the French city of Avignon will sentence 51 men on Thursday in a gang rape trial that turned a 72-year-old woman into a feminist icon.

Over the course of nearly a decade, Giselle Bellico was drugged by her ex-husband Dominic, who then invited dozens of men he recruited online to have sex with her in her bed at home while she was unconscious and unconscious.

It was her decision to waive anonymity and take this trial public – in her words, resulting in an “exchange of shame” from victim to rapist.

Although he admitted to the charges, most of the other men on trial deny that what they did was rape.

Prosecutors requested prison sentences ranging from four to 20 years, the maximum penalty for aggravated rape.

One of the defendants, who admitted to the charges against him, said the trial was quick and a “failure.”

Activists say this case demonstrates the need to include consent in rape laws in France, as is the case in other European countries.

From 2011 to 2020, Dominique Bellicot plied his wife with tranquilizers and sleeping pills without her knowledge, crushing them into powder and adding them to her food and drink.

Giselle Bellico suffered from drug-induced memory loss and unconsciousness, and spoke of 10 years of her life lost.

He was eventually arrested because a security guard reported him to the police for taking photos under women's skirts in a department store.

“I thought we were a close couple,” she once told the court. Instead, her husband was using a disreputable but now banned website called Coco.fr to invite local men to their home to have sex with her while she was in a coma.

“I was sacrificed on the altar of vice,” Gisèle Bellicot said early in the trial.

Since the beginning of September, Judge Roger Arata and his four colleagues have heard how 50 men, now aged between 27 and 74, visited the Bellicot family home in the village of Mazan.

Dominique Bellicot confessed to all the charges against him, namely drugging his wife, raping her, and recruiting dozens of men to rape her. Prosecutors want judges to sentence him to a maximum of 20 years in prison for aggravated rape.

He told the judges: “I am a rapist.” “I admit all the facts (in the case) in their entirety.” He begged his ex-wife and three children for forgiveness, but his actions tore the Bellicott family apart.

The other accused belong to all walks of life and most of them are from a 50-kilometre (30-mile) radius of Mazan, the village to which the Balikots belong. The fact that they are firefighters, security guards and truck drivers has earned them the name Monsieur-Tout-Le-Monde (Mr. Everyman). Most of them have children too.

Fifty of the 51 are charged with aggravated rape and attempted rape.

Roman V (63 years old) faces an 18-year prison sentence if proven guilty. He is accused of raping Giselle Belico on six separate occasions while knowing he was HIV positive. His lawyer says he could not have transmitted the infection because he underwent years of treatment.

Ten other men could face sentences ranging from 15 to 17 years, and prosecutors are seeking prison sentences ranging from 10 to 14 years for 38 others.

Before the verdicts were handed down, one of the few men who confessed to the rape told the BBC through his daughter that many people made up their minds on the spot: “There wasn't enough time. For me it was a failure.”

The average prison sentence for rape crimes in France is 11.1 years, according to the French Ministry of Justice.

A man was charged with aggravated sexual assault rather than rape. Prosecutors say Joseph C., a 69-year-old retired athletic trainer and grandfather, should face the lightest sentence of four years in prison.

Some of them have apologized for their behavior, but many have not.

Cyril B said he was sorry to Giselle Bellicot.

“I'm ashamed of myself, I'm disgusted,” Jean-Pierre M. said this week. His lawyer expressed hope that judges would take into account his remorse.

Not only was this case brought out in full view of the public, but the evidence against all the accused was videotaped by Dominique Bellicot at the time and then played in court.

Giselle Bellico, who divorced her husband, said the men “treated me like a rag doll.” She said: “Don't talk to me about the sex scenes. These are rape scenes.”

Therefore, none of the accused could challenge the allegation that they were in Giselle Bellico's room while she was in a coma.

Their defense relied on the definition of rape, because it currently includes any type of sexual penetration “by violence, coercion, threat or surprise.” This means that prosecutors must prove intent to rape.

Prosecutor Laure Chapeau told the court that no one could say anymore that “since she did not say anything, she gave her consent – this belongs to a bygone era.”

Thousands of people have joined protests in support of Gisèle Bellico in France. The women stood outside the court every day repeating one of the phrases her lawyers said in court: “Shame changes sides.”

Giselle Bellico attended almost every day of the trial, appearing in court with her sunglasses on before 9 a.m.

Her decision to compromise her identity is highly unusual, but she has remained steadfast in every moment. “I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Bellicot did it, and I can do it too.”

But she explains that behind her facade of strength “lies a field of rubble,” and despite widespread praise for what she has done, she is a reluctant hero.

Her lawyer, Stefan Babonneau, told the BBC's Emma Barnett: “She keeps repeating: 'I'm normal,' and she doesn't want to be considered an icon.”

“Women in general have a power that they cannot even imagine and they should believe in themselves. This is her message.”

Lawyers for the 51 defendants highlighted the ordinary lives they lived, although court-appointed psychiatrist Laurent Light testified that they were neither ordinary nor “monsters.”

In the first weeks of the trial, the then mayor of Mazan village told the BBC that the case could have been more serious because no one had died.

But these statements sparked anger across France, and the mayor quickly apologized. He has since said he is withdrawing from public life.

The fact that the trial was public meant that each session was covered at length and in detail.

Elsa Laborette from the activist group Dare to Be Feminist told the BBC: “She (Giselle Bellicot) decided to make this bigger than herself. To make this about the way we, as a society, deal with sexual violence.”