Gisele Pelicot arrives to attend a session of the trial of her former partner Dominique Pelicot who is accused of drugging her for nearly 10 years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan, a small town in the south of France, in Avignon, on September 11. Photo / AFP
Gisele Pelicot arrives to attend a session of the trial of her former partner Dominique Pelicot who is accused of drugging her for nearly 10 years and inviting strangers to rape her at their home in Mazan, a small town in the south of France, in Avignon, on September 11. Photo / AFP
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A Frenchman on trial for recruiting strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife was on Wednesday excused from court for the rest of the week after his health deteriorated, the presiding judge said.
Dominique Pelicot, a 71-year-old retiree accused of enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his drugged wife over almost a decade, had been allowed to leave court earlier in the day after he turned up looking weak and leaning on a cane.
Roger Arata, the presiding judge, decided on Wednesday afternoon that the extraordinary trial should continue even if the main defendant could not attend until Monday at the earliest.
“He is unable to appear in court on Thursday or Friday. I think he will be admitted to hospital ... We will not be able to have Mr Pelicot (here) before Monday at the earliest,” he added.
He had earlier excused the defendant from the day’s hearing at the court in the southern city of Avignon, and ordered a medical examination.
Arata said he would re-examine whether or not to temporarily suspend the trial on Thursday.
Dominique Pelicot is accused of intoxicating his wife and then inviting dozens of men to assault her for almost a decade. He is currently involved in a high-profile trial in France.
“Tomorrow morning, we will have no trouble continuing and then we will decide later in the day what to do for the days after that,” he said.
Pelicot, who has admitted to the allegations, was initially due to be questioned on Tuesday afternoon, but on Monday he was excused from court over abdominal pain and on Tuesday was still in poor health.
He has been on trial since last week, along with 50 other men aged between 26 and 74, for alleged involvement in a case that has horrified France.
Most risk up to 20 years in jail for aggravated rape.
The cases of four co-defendants had been scheduled for this week, including that of Jean-Pierre M, 63, the only one not to be accused of abusing Gisele Pelicot.
Instead, he has been charged with repeatedly raping his own wife after drugging her, in the presence of Dominique Pelicot who provided the medication.
Arata said he would likely not want Jean-Pierre M to testify without Dominique Pelicot, flagging one possible obstacle in the coming days.
