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00:00Joining me now is France 24 journalist Delano D'Souza.
00:03Delano, this is the first time we've actually heard from the man who's at the centre of
00:07what has become this country's most notorious rape trial.
00:11It's a very dark case, isn't it, Annette?
00:14Now Mr Pellicot, 71-year-old Dominique Pellicot, had already admitted to guilt, but this was
00:20essentially his first time in court where we heard his voice.
00:24He spoke to the courtroom and essentially told the judge and people inside the premises
00:31that he admitted to the charges in their entirety.
00:35He said, I am a rapist, just like all the others in this room.
00:39I ask my wife, my children, my grandchildren to accept my apologies.
00:44I regret what I did.
00:46I ask for your forgiveness, even if it is not forgivable.
00:49So this is the first time essentially that Dominique Pellicot has spoken at his trial.
00:54That testimony was delayed for most of last week and even on Monday, as you mentioned,
00:58he had those health issues.
01:00On Monday, he had a clot in his bladder which needed to get checked out, but apparently
01:05the doctors did give him the go ahead to come in and testify today.
01:09Now we also had Giselle Pellicot who spoke at today's proceedings and she said, for 50
01:15years, I have lived with a man who I would never have imagined was capable of these acts
01:21of rape.
01:22As you mentioned, Annette, 50 other men are also standing trial with Dominique Pellicot.
01:28They age between 26 and 73 years old.
01:34Those are the ages.
01:35And if they are found guilty, they face up to 20 years behind bars.
01:38As you mentioned, this is a case that has shocked this country.
01:41Over the weekend, we saw people on the streets of Paris and across cities in France come
01:46out in defense of Giselle Pellicot.
01:49This very, very brave young woman, a 72-year-old woman, who has wanted this trial to be held
01:59publicly so everyone knows what is going on and no one can hide behind laws in this country
02:08and everything is going to be out in the open.
02:10Thank you very much, Dilaudid De Souza.