Maximum sentence sought for Pelicot in French rape trial

A French prosecutor has asked for the maximum 20-year prison sentence for Dominique Pelicot, who organised the mass rape of his wife for nearly a decade, knocking her unconscious with drugs and sharing pictures and video of the rapes.

Mr Pelicot, 71, has admitted the charges in a trial that attracted worldwide attention and turned into an examination of the pervasiveness of sexual violence in France and beyond.

"The maximum sentence is 20 years, which is a lot... but at the same time... too little in view of the seriousness of the acts that were committed and repeated," public prosecutor Laure Chabaud told the court.

Most of the 50 other men on trial have said they did not realise they were raping Gisèle Pelicot, did not intend to rape her or put all the blame on her then-husband, who they said had manipulated them.

Another prosecutor said the trial has shaken French society and must fundamentally change relationships between men and women.

"This trial is shaking up our society in our relationship with each other, in the most intimate relationships between human beings," Jean-Francois Mayet told the court.

The trial is making French society work "to understand our needs, our emotions, our desires and above all to take into account those of others," he said.

What is at stake, he added, "is not a conviction or an acquittal" but "to fundamentally change the relations between men and women," he added.

The men, aged between 26 and 74 years, are largely charged with aggravated rape and face up to 20 years of imprisonment if convicted.

"The facts, and the personality of each accused, were taken into account even in our sentencing demands", Mr Mayet added, saying that "justice needs calm and peaceful debates."

The prosecutors will, over the next two days, say what sentence they seek against each of them.

Mr Pelicot's lawyer, Beatrice Zavarro, told reporters it was not a surprise that prosecutors had sought the longest sentence possible.

Ms Pelicot, also 71, could have demanded the trial be kept behind closed doors, but instead asked for it be held in public, saying she hoped it would help other women speak up and show that victims have nothing to be ashamed of.

Video recorded by her husband and shown in court over the past weeks has repeatedly featured her motionless, sometimes snoring, while the accused, including her husband, abused her.

The verdicts and sentences are expected around 20 December.