we are hearing that the judge is putting forward sentencing and the verdicts of the men. at the moment it is only the verdicts we are hearing. we believe sentencing will happen after the verdicts have been read out. but i can tell you that so far we have had 16 verdicts out of the 51. every single one of these men have been found guilty of the charges of which they are accused. this trial began in september and one of the incredible things about it, one of the reasons it has garnered so much global attention, is the fact that the victim, gisele pelicot, waived her right to anonymity at the beginning of the trial. she wanted to put the focus on how women in this country are

treated, how rape victims are treated, how rape victims are treated, and more importantly than that, she wanted to show that rape survivors have nothing to be ashamed of. she has talked many times about pushing the shame away, making shame change sides. outside court it is a cold but sunny day. there are about 150 protesters and supporters of giselle outside the courtroom. earlier on we saw some of the defendants enter the courtroom. they were booed, they were shouted at. after that we saw gisele herself walk gracefully and serenely into the courtroom, surrounded by her security guards and her legal team. she was cleared and clapped, as she has been every day of this trial. the judge

has heard three months of evidence, three months of arguments, and has made his decisions. we are hearing now the continuing reading out off the continuing reading out off the names and then the verdict. as i mentioned earlier, it is still the case that every single one of these men is being found guilty. there will being found guilty. there will be sentencing in a few minutes�* time. prosecutors have requested sentences of between four and 20 years for each of the defendants. the factors are different for each and every one of them. some of them are aggravating factors, for example some of these men have been found guilty of possessing child abuse imagery, others have admitted to coming to

gisele pelicot�*s house and raping her more than once. others came to her house the one time. the sentencing will be varied, but as i mentioned, prosecutors have asked for sentences of anything between four and 20 years for these men. we are expecting dominique pelicot to be given 20 years, the maximum sentence. we are expecting sentencing to happen after the reading out of these verdicts. i am after the reading out of these verdicts. iam here after the reading out of these verdicts. i am here with my colleague hugh schofield who is the bbc�*s paris con despondent —— correspondence, and who has been following this case from the very beginning. as we look at pictures here that were drawn from inside the court and we look at people outside behind us, milling around, and

waiting for the verdicts to end, talk to me a little bit about the impact this case has had on this country.— had on this country. well, i mean, had on this country. well, i mean. the _ had on this country. well, i mean, the sheer... - had on this country. well, i mean, the sheer... the - had on this country. well, i i mean, the sheer... the sheer horror and the sheer detail and the sheer weirdness of the story has made it a centre of attention, a centre of conversations across the country, as it has across the world. it bears repeating again, there are more media here today than there were at the terrorist trials of 2015 and a massive problem france had then. this is a story that because of the detail in the urbanity of it in so many ways has kept our attention. there is one man, dominique pelicot, described as the ogre, the mastermind of all of this, and then there are 50 other people

who are utterly ordinary. that is what i think i got everybody talking about it. that a man like dominique pelicot could appeal on the internet for people tojoin in his appeal on the internet for people to join in his six appeal on the internet for people tojoin in his six games and have such a response from his immediate environment, ordinary people, firemen, nurses, unemployed people, journalists, who were people living around, and it has made people, i think, living around, and it has made people, ithink, look living around, and it has made people, i think, look at their surroundings. and here in avignon they look at other people and think could it be that some of these people who i bumped into every day of my life are also sexual obsessives who find this behaviour normal? or sufficiently normalised? i or sufficiently normalised ? i think or sufficiently normalised? i think all this is entering the public mind, notjust here in france. a lot of people are

talking about how this will change attitudes in france, but also around the world, this is an internet age phenomenon, a pornography age phenomenon, the way this behaviour was for these ordinary men was something they were prepared to do and apparently not ashamed of. in other cases and their families would defend them. all of this is the stuff of conversations and there is another more famous interpretation of it, it is about the rape culture in western society. there is debate, there is a lot to be said here, there is meat in this discussion and it is a story of our time and it is why it is a landmark case. it story of our time and it is why it is a landmark case.- it is a landmark case. it is. let me _ it is a landmark case. it is. let me remind _ it is a landmark case. it is. let me remind those - it is a landmark case. it is. let me remind those who l it is a landmark case. it is. i let me remind those who are with us that of these 50 men on trial, two or three came from the local county where gisele lived. one or two were from her village and the rest were from other towns, village and the rest were from othertowns, but village and the rest were from other towns, but always in an area close enough to gisele. as

you mentioned, from all sorts of profiles and ulcers ofjobs, all sorts of walks of life, the youngest 26, the oldest 7a, a prison warden, a counsellor, journalist, a builder, an it worker, a supermarket worker, a nurse. they were all strangers gisele, except for one who she had seen in passing and she knew he had spoken to her husband. many of these dependents are now, as i speak, being found guilty one after the other by the judge. many of these men are fathers. many of them have families. the open letter written by many french actors and notable authors to a black liberation newspaper said, these men are everyman, these men are not anything special or anything out of the ordinary. that is the reason why this case had touched a

huge nerve amongst french society. let me remind those of you who are with me here on this bbc new special, as we hear the trialjudge calling out the names and the verdicts for the 51 men accused. all of them so far have been found guilty. i want to bring in a lawyer specialising in women's victims of domestic violence, whojoins me down victims of domestic violence, who joins me down the line. good to talk to you, i appreciate you taking the time to speak to us. if i can ask you, the sentencing will happen after the verdicts. is that normally the case? we were expecting verdicts and sentencing at the same time. sorry, i don't hear what you

said. i sorry, i don't hear what you said. . , sorry, i don't hear what you said. ., , ., said. i was wondering whether ou can said. i was wondering whether you can explain _ said. i was wondering whether you can explain to _ said. i was wondering whether you can explain to me - said. i was wondering whether you can explain to me how- said. i was wondering whetherj you can explain to me how the process is going to work because at the moment we are hearing thejudge giving because at the moment we are hearing the judge giving the verdicts, but we are not hearing sentencing. is that unusual?— hearing sentencing. is that unusual? ., , ., unusual? no, it is not usual, but i think— unusual? no, it is not usual, but | think it _ unusual? no, it is not usual, but i think it is _ unusual? no, it is not usual, but i think it is better- unusual? no, it is not usual, but i think it is better for - but i think it is better for thejudge to explain but i think it is better for the judge to explain first guilty and after that explaining what will be the punishment.— explaining what will be the punishment. tell me a little bit about — punishment. tell me a little bit about that _ punishment. tell me a little bit about that element - punishment. tell me a little bit about that element of i punishment. tell me a little bit about that element of it| bit about that element of it because the prosecutors have asked for sentences of between four and 20 years. what are the factors that the judge has to bearin factors that the judge has to bear in mind when he decides sentencing?— bear in mind when he decides sentencin: ? ~ ., , sentencing? well, the 'udge has to identify the h sentencing? well, thejudge has to identify the personality - sentencing? well, thejudge has to identify the personality of - to identify the personality of each guilty man and every sentence will be adapted to the

case of everyman. so they will not have the same punishment, they will not have the same sentence. it is normal in france, you know. so we have to wait and the judge will explain one by one why this man has four years, this man has ten years or this man has more than ten years, 20 years of punishment. in france it is the way we do it in criminal law. so we have to wait one by one the centres and the explanation that the judge will give to every man who is guilty. that is why. every man who is guilty. that is wh . ., ~ every man who is guilty. that iswh. . ~' every man who is guilty. that iswh. ., ., every man who is guilty. that iswh. ., ~ ., , is why. thank you. i am sure that many — is why. thank you. i am sure that many of— is why. thank you. i am sure that many of those - is why. thank you. i am sure that many of those who - is why. thank you. i am sure that many of those who are l is why. thank you. i am sure - that many of those who are with me on this bbc news special will be wondering whether or not in french law there is the chance to launch an appeal and

whether we will be expecting all or some of these men to do so. , ., all or some of these men to do so. , . ._ , ., all or some of these men to do so. , . , ., ., ., so. they have ten days to go to the appeal _ so. they have ten days to go to the appeal court, _ so. they have ten days to go to the appeal court, of _ so. they have ten days to go to the appeal court, of course. i the appeal court, of course. then after that the trial will be very quickly because it is concerning rape, so they have ten days to go to the appeal court. also the prosecutor has ten days to go to the court. i know that you have been following this case yourself, you specialise in women victims of domestic violence. what changes do you feel this case could bring to french society? what are your hopes? mt; could bring to french society? what are your hopes? my first ho -e is what are your hopes? my first hepe is that. _ what are your hopes? my first hope is that, you _ what are your hopes? my first hope is that, you know, - hope is that, you know, everything begins when the victim goes to the police station to file a complaint,

everything begins at this time, and i hope that now the justice will not say, well, i am not sure what she is saying is real or not real. we have to believe the victims. when the victim goes to the police station to file a complaint it means that what she will say is real, it is serious. so i hope that now every file of complaint will be seriously investigated and not be a new case and that we wait and wait for the investigation. i hope it is the first effect of this trial. of course, there are other effects that i hope when a victim of violence, not

only rape, a woman victim of violence goes to the police station, i hope that the police man or women believe what she is saying. man or women believe what she is sa inc. . ~ man or women believe what she issa inc. ., ~ man or women believe what she issa inc. . ~' , man or women believe what she issa in. . , . is saying. thank you very much indeed for _ is saying. thank you very much indeed forjoining _ is saying. thank you very much indeed forjoining us _ is saying. thank you very much indeed forjoining us here - is saying. thank you very much indeed forjoining us here on i indeed forjoining us here on bbc news. good to talk to you and to get the information about any potential appeal. any appeal would need to be lodged within the ten day period. let me bring you a little bit more information on what is happening inside the courtroom. cameras are not allowed inside. there are only three journalists who are actually inside the courtroom. in the overflow room next door there are over 150 of my colleagues from around the world, including two bbcjournalists. they are informing me of what is happening inside the courtroom. i can tell you that in the last few minutes we have

had more sentencing of the 51 men accused of varying degrees of aggravated rape and sexual assault. all of them have been found guilty in one way or another. in the last couple of minutes we have heard that one man has been acquitted of rape and attempted rape, but has been found guilty of sexual assault, sexual assault of gisele pelicot. a lot of these men are accused of actual aggravated rape. some of them are accused of sexual assault. a number of them are also accused of some other aggravating factors, including the possession of child abuse imagery. now, we are hearing that gisele and her family are obviously inside the courtroom. we are hearing that gisele is looking at the defendants one by one as they stand up when

they're verdicts are read. there is no other reaction from gisele or from there is no other reaction from gisele orfrom herfamily there is no other reaction from gisele or from her family as they stand there and face the accused for the final time. gisele has been in court time and time again, having to sometimes walk into court with those men who have been accused and now found guilty of her rape. she has had to face her husband, dominique pelicot, and look at him, watch him, as he gave evidence. so, as i mentioned earlier, we have a number of these verdicts coming in to us. guilty, guilty and

guilty. that is the main crux of what is happening in there. pretty much all of the men are guilty on some sort of charge. the vast majority of them are guilty of all of the charges. we are hearing now that the sentencing is over. the verdicts are over, excuse me, the sentencing will now begin and we believe the judge will also offer up the reasons for the sentences that he brings down on these men. we know the prosecutors have asked for sentences between four and 20 years. 20 years is what prosecutors have requested for dominique pelicot. it is the absolute maximum that they can give. if we can, can we bring

in and on the various, a lawyer, an expert in sexual violence and sexual harassment cases. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. i mentioned, i don't know if you heard me, all of these men, sorry, can you wait there for one second, we have just received information that dominique pelicot has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. dominique pelicot has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. we are hearing that he has been given the maximum sentence that he can be given, the sentence that prosecutors requested for him. his family, we are hearing, is looking on. they are whispering amongst themselves and gisele at this point has rested her head against the wall and well she

might. it has been a long and brutal battle for her to get to this point. from the very beginning when her husband was first arrested in 2020 and these heinous crimes first came to light. we are now hearing thatjean—pierre marechal, the second defendant in this case, has been given a sentence of 12 years. jean—pierre marechal is the only man out of the 51 who is not accused of raping gisele pelicot. instead the 63—year—old admitted to following dominique pelicot�*s lead, drugging his own wife for five years, raping her and inviting dominique to attack as well. he has since said that what he did to his wife was atrocious and said, i was a rapist but i am not any more.

just to reiterate, dominique pelicot has been given 20 years, the maximum sentence, for drugging and raping his wife gisele pelicot and inviting other men to do so. just to give you a little bit more context, jean—pierre marechal, the man i mentioned earlier, has been given 12 years. that is five years less under 17 years that had been requested by in this case. we believe the judge will now carry on, step—by—step, with the sentencing and will bring forth sentencing for all of the men who have been found guilty. important to reiterate at this point to those of you who are with us that every one of these 51 men have been found guilty

of a crime. some of them have been found guilty of aggravated rape, others of sexual abuse. there are also other factors here to bear in mind, that some of them have also been found guilty of possessing child abuse imagery. so, we are now hearing some more sentencing that has been happening over the last few minutes. we are hearing that one of the oldest co—accused on trial, a lorry driver, he has spent most of his life on the road throughout europe, he said to the detriment of his marriage, he is divorced now, a father of two, he has been given five years injail. we are two, he has been given five years in jail. we are also

hearing news of other sentences as well. including cyril del veal, a 54—year—old father of two. in the videos he can be seen raping gisele pelicot. he admitted to rape but he said he didn't know what to do once he realised she was unconscious. he said this, i froze, realised she was unconscious. he said this, ifroze, i realised she was unconscious. he said this, i froze, i was cheating on my wife, i wondered what was going on, i decided to trust dominique telco. he has been given eight years injail for his crime. —— dominique pelicot. we are hearing that andy rodriguez, 37 years old, self—described alcoholic and drug user, he spent several months injail on drug user, he spent several months in jail on domestic charges already, dominique pelicot invited him to rape his

wife on new year's eve in 2019 and andy rodriguez said, i didn't have anything else to do that night. he has been given eight years injailfor his crime against gisele pelicot. sentencing is continuing now for some of the other men involved in this case. i will endeavour to give you as much information as i possibly can on these men as i read out their sentences. we are hearing that christian local, sit years old, a volunteer firefighter, he is accused of raping gisele pelicot on two occasions, but denied meaning to do so, saying the videos show, and i quote, his body, not his brain stop police found conversations on his computer which indicated he

was interested in child abuse. christian local has been sentence to nine years in jail. now, the sentences i am reading out to you are, i have to say, far lower than had been asked for by prosecutors, except for dominique pelicot�*s sentence. just to remind you of that, dominique pelicot, the main accused in this case, the man who stood up in court and who said, iam who stood up in court and who said, i am a rapist, who stood up in court and who said, iam a rapist, he has been sentenced to 20 years. but the other sentences are shorter than what we originally thought.

let's just keep going with some of these other sentences we are hearing now that nicola francois, one of the other men who had been accused of attacking and raping gisele pelicot has been given eight years injailand has pelicot has been given eight years injail and has been banned from working in jobs with children for several years. he is a 43—year—old freelance journalist, nicola francois, who met dominique pelicot and said at the time he was only after a homosexual relationship with dominique. one of the videos, however, shows that he tried to rape gisele pelicot. he is also accused of having child abuse imagery on his devices. as i mentioned earlier, this is the continued sentencing of dominique pelicot and the other

men involved in this case. the sentencing will continue inside the court room behind me and here on bbc news we will continue to cover the sentencing. forthose continue to cover the sentencing. for those of you on pbs, it is time to say goodbye. thank you forjoining us on this bbc news special. for those of you who have stayed with us, let me continue to read at some of the sentencing that we are receiving. we have a reporter inside the overflow room of the court. no cameras are allowed inside, so we cannot tell you exactly what is happening, but i am getting the information sent to me minute by minute on each and every man and each sentence that is being given. let me tell you about joseph coco, 69 years old. he

is divorced and a father of one. we are told he is a regular swinger. one. we are told he is a regularswinger. he one. we are told he is a regular swinger. he claims i have done nothing wrong, only to be deceived by the false proposition of dominique pelicot. he has been given three years in jail. just to remind viewers that the sentences are lower than the ones that were asked for by the prosecution. we will be looking into the reasons behind this, i am sure, in the coming minutes and the coming hours as well. we are getting continued sentencing. let me tell you about fabienne sought on, 39 years old. he has been given a sentence of 11 years in prison,

longer than many of the other defendants. the court heard that he had a troubled childhood, spent in foster care. he was abused and raped himself and later spent time in a mental health facility. he ended up homeless. fabienne sought on has three children. his criminal record includes domestic violence, and sexual assault of a minor. he has been sentence to 11 years in jail for his attack on gisele pelicot. we are hearing that a soldier from guyana, the youngest of the defendants, just 22 years old, when he went to the house on the night his daughter was born. he has been given ten

years injailfor his born. he has been given ten years in jail for his attack on gisele pelicot. he said this in court, i knew she was unconscious but not that she did not give her consent. he added, at the time i didn't know what consent was. he is only 22 years old —— he was only 22 years old —— he was only 22 years old —— he was only 22 years old at the time of the crime. iamjoined i am joined now by the correspondent who has joint me outside the court room. i am grateful to you because you have been following this case and as i talk to you, the sentencing is continuing, i am going to keep half an eye on that. it is important to give those who have joined as the context behind every one of the

sentences. it will take time. there are 51 men. talk to me about the case itself. it has had a huge impact not only on society in france but globally. there are 200 journalists accredited today. we have all been queueing from early in the morning and people have been saying in my home country, i am german, people have been following this closely, it is such an extraordinary case because she obviously waived her right to anonymity. that is really impressive and also the fact that every day, she seems so strong and yet she says she is devastated inside. it is impressive. many people around the world have been impressed by that. i the world have been impressed b that. ., ., ., , by that. i am hearing that she is resting _ by that. i am hearing that she is resting her— by that. i am hearing that she is resting her head _ by that. i am hearing that she is resting her head on - by that. i am hearing that she is resting her head on the - by that. i am hearing that she| is resting her head on the wall inside the courtroom, she is not showing emotion, it is not

about whether or not she shows emotion, to be honest, it is an observation. one can only imagine how hard it is for her. sheet must be devastated and so tired after four months of listening to this, the accused saying i didn't know that she had not given her consent, although she was at times asleep or unconscious, she was snoring, it's really difficult to imagine how someone can think that a woman or anyone had given their consent when they are not there. they are unconscious. it has been an ordealfor her. many unconscious. it has been an ordeal for her. many people have been watching this. there is a group of feminist that you can see in the background, they have come here today to hand out oranges. that is really french. i am going to bring some oranges which basically means the person is in prison, and you don't have access to oranges. they have come here to

show their support.