French judge in mass rape trial will allow public to watch videos of alleged attacks in court | World News

A French judge in the trial of 50 men accused of raping an unconscious woman has ruled that videos of the alleged sexual assaults can be shown to the public in court.

Warning: This story contains shocking details of rape and sexual abuse

Gisele Pelicot, who has waived her right to anonymity, was allegedly drugged by her ex-husband before he invited strangers to rape her over the course of a decade.

The case shocked France and led to this Hundreds of women protest in Paris in support of Ms Pelicot, 71, and rape victims.

Judge Roger Arata's decision to allow journalists and the public who attended the trial access to footage of the alleged attacks marks a stunning turnaround in the case.

A two-week legal battle ensued, with journalists arguing after the trial that the videos were crucial to fully understanding the extraordinary case.

Ms. Pelicot, who has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France, also wants the videos shown as she hopes the trial will serve as a nationwide example, said one of her lawyers, Stephane Babonneau.

The videos allegedly show men sexually abusing Ms Pelicot's lifeless body.

Ms Pelicot had previously insisted the trial would be public, contrary to the Avignon court's suggestion that it be held behind closed doors.

Since the hearings began on September 2, Ms. Pelicot has faced her ex-husband almost daily. Dominique Pelicotand 49 other suspected rapists.

She was praised for her courage and composure and admired for speaking in a calm and clear voice and allowing her full name to be published – unusual for victims in rape trials under French law.

“It's a unique case: we don't have a single account of rape. We have dozens, hundreds of rape videos,” Babonneau said.

“Gisele Pelicot believes that this shock wave is necessary so that no one can say afterwards: 'I didn't know it was rape'.”

The explicit videos shown during the trial, which highlighted the difficulties victims of sexual violence can face in France, are particularly important, Ms Pelicot's lawyers say, because the vast majority of defendants deny the rape allegations.

Some defendants claim Ms. Pelicot's husband cheated on them, others say he forced them to have sex with her and they were scared.

Others argue that they believed she consented or that her husband's consent was sufficient.

The videos, say the lawyers, speak for themselves.

With Friday's decision, Judge Arata overturned his earlier decision from September 20 that the videos would only be shown on a case-by-case basis and behind closed doors.

At the time he argued that they undermined the “dignity” of the hearings.

A day later, the French Judicial Press Association, supported by Ms. Pelicot's lawyers, filed a lawsuit against the decision.

Previously, journalists and the public had to leave the courtroom after each video was shown.

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Jean-Philippe Deniau, a journalist who covered the justice system for France Inter Radio and followed the trial, said the videos were important for people's understanding of the case.

They would be no more disturbing than some of the evidence he had seen in the past, he said.

“When we work on trials about terrorist attacks, crimes, murders… there are always difficult moments,” Deniau said.

As an example, he cited several defendants' testimony earlier this week that they came to the Pelicots' home in Provence to have consensual sex and that they took part in a “game” to see if they could wake up Ms. Pelicot could bring up.

Mr Deniau said that following Friday's verdict, a four-minute recording from the video collection was shown to the court later in the day.

In his statement, Mr Deniau said the video appeared to counter the defendants' claims of consensual “play”.