Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Now after three and a half months of hearings, the 51 men on trial for the
00:04rape of Giselle Pellico have had their one last chance to put their sides of
00:08the story before verdicts are expected to be announced this Thursday. The case
00:13has been adjourned with those verdicts expected soon then. Dominique Pellico,
00:17her former husband, has asked the court, or asked the family rather, to accept his
00:21apologies and also praised her courage. A short while ago I spoke to our reporter
00:26at the court for a Selena Sykes. This morning we have heard the last words
00:32from all the 51 men on trial here, starting with Dominique Pellico, the
00:38ex-husband of Giselle Pellico. For 50 years Dominique Pellico was saying
00:43that he wanted to praise the courage of his wife and he said that he had
00:48regretted what he had done. He also extended his apologies to his family and
00:54he said that he was deeply ashamed of what he had done. He said that a lot of
01:01things were said about him, some of them lies, but he admitted to everything that
01:06he is accused of in a court here today. The other 50 men on trial with him
01:12from all walks of life, aged between 27 to 74 years old, also had their
01:20last words. A lot of them, for the vast majority of their past, said that
01:24they had nothing to add. You can just hear now actually Giselle Pellico is
01:28coming out of the courtroom as we speak and as we have heard every day since
01:33this trial has begun, she is met by a round of applause from the members of
01:37public who are here to watch the trial. She is just walking down now,
01:42surrounded by cameras and members of the press as well as members of the public
01:47who are applauding her as we speak. She has been attending this trial every day
01:52here in Avignon, this trial that has lasted three and a half months. As I was
01:58saying, the other 50 men who also are on trial here with Dominique Pellico also
02:04had their last words here today. Some of them thanked their lawyers,
02:08the judges and their families for the most part. Many of them said that
02:13they had nothing to add. Some of them denied rape, were adamant in their
02:18denial, one saying that he was not a rapist. Many maintained their defense
02:22saying that they were unaware that Giselle Pellico had not given her
02:27consent, saying that Dominique Pellico had manipulated them, that they
02:30thought they were taking part in some kind of a sex game. A few of them did
02:36apologize to Giselle Pellico. Giselle Pellico, who kept her head down, was on
02:40her phone for the vast majority of the court case. She did look up towards
02:45the end and Giselle Pellico, who is just making her way out of the quarter, as I
02:49speak, Stuart.