France mass rape trial enters final stage; verdict expected by December 20

The trial of a French man who for a decade drugged his wife to have her raped by dozens of strangers entered its final stages on Monday, with the final set of accused set to testify ahead of sentencing requests later in the week and a verdict next month.

The case of 71-year-old Dominique Pelicot has sparked horror, protests and a debate about male violence in French society. If convicted, he would emerge from the historic trial with a record as one of France's worst sex offenders.

Since early September Dominique Pelicot has been in the dock in the southern city of Avignon along with 49 other men. Another defendant is still at large.

The victim, Pelicot's former wife Gisele, has become a feminist icon by refusing to be ashamed and demanding the trial be open to the public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

"The shame isn't ours to feel, it's theirs," she said.

For the past 10 weeks the court has considered the charges against the 47 defendants, and the last four men were due to take the stand on Monday.

Like the other accused, these four defendants come from everyday backgrounds. They are Nicolas F, a 43-year-old freelance journalist, Boris M, a 37-year-old employee in a transport company, Philippe L, a 62-year-old gardener, and Joseph C, a 69-year-old pensioner.

Previous defendants have claimed they believed they were taking part in a game played by a libertine couple, in which the wife pretended to sleep, and were unaware Gisele Pelicot had been rendered unconscious with drugs.

Like most of the accused, they will likely be confronted with the videos of their acts, filmed and meticulously catalogued and filed away by Dominique Pelicot.

Investigators counted around 200 instances of rape, most of them by her husband and more than 90 by strangers.

"We're tired," said Antoine Camus, one of the two lawyers representing 71-year-old Gisele Pelicot and her three children.

He said Gisele Pelicot was tired of hearing "the same explanations from the defendants" that she was the victim of rape "by accident" or rape "by error of judgement".

Dominique Pelicot has confessed to being a rapist.

Of the co-defendants, only 14 have admitted the charges of aggravated rape, for which most of them face up to 20 years' imprisonment.

The 35 others deny having raped Gisele Pelicot and maintain that they thought they were taking part in sex games.

Gisele Pelicot said she had never given her consent.

The verdict is expected to be delivered by December 20 at the latest.