pellico has admitted to drugging his then wife gisele pellico, for years so that he and dozens of strangerse recruited online could rape her. prosecutors are asking for the maximum 20 year prison sentence the trial has triggered protest rallies in support of gisele pellico and prompted calls for an update to france's rape law. jay-z's attorney says the sexual assault claim against the hip hop mogul is false. a woman has accused him of raping her at an after party for the 2000 mtv video music awards when she was just 13. cnn's elizabeth wagmeister has that story jay-z's attorney is doubling down on a denial that his client ever raped a 13 year old girl. >> now, jay-z has already fiercely denied these accusations, and his legal team has already asked the court to dismiss this case entirely. but now, for the first time, speaking to reporters since these accusations came out jay-z's attorney alex spiro, held a press conference of sorts. there was a private meeting at jay-z's roc nation offices in new york city, where cnn was invited to watch a presentation put on by jay-z's attorney, where he h

he raped gisele pellico. yes, but not intentionally. maybe he should be punished.e realised. but ten years is too much. it's unfair. but in court, dominique pelicot said the others were as guilty as him. i'm a rapist. like the others in this courtroom. they knew everything. and then, crucially, came the grotesque videos filmed by dominic pelicot — hard evidence that is so rare in rape trials. in the video, you can hear gisele pelicot snoring, so it's absolutely obvious that she is sleeping. and for the defendants, it's very complicated for them to defend themselves and to pretend, well, i didn't rape her, with this kind of proof. over the course of this trial, gisele pelicot has in some ways eclipsed the accused, an inspiration to so many women. it doesn't take, you know, a lawyer. it doesn't take a minister. it doesn't take a government official to make an impact for women's rights. it just takes a woman with guts. gisele pelicot could have remained anonymous. instead, she embraced a public role. the victim who refused to feel shame. andrew harding, bbc news, avig

the victim, giselle pellico, has become an international advocate for abuse victims.pressed support for her fellow victims, whose cases do not get as much attention. her ex-husband, 72 year old dominique pellico, received a 20 year sentence, which is the maximum under french law. over the course of nearly a decade, he drugged his then wife, then allowed 50 other men to rape her while she was unconscious. those men all received sentences ranging between 3 and 20 years. >> the mission to wipe out the so-called murder hornets in the u.s. was a resounding success. that's according to officials in washington state. the insect was first discovered about five years ago near the washington, canada border. border. this hornet is an invasive species with a dangerous sting and the ability to kill an entire honeybee hive in a matter of hours. they can also sting through many beekeeper suits, doing this for over 25 years now. >> and it is a. it is a rare day when the humans actually get to win one against the insects. so i would like to say we had a little luck from the weather, a

giselle. and organizing that we're awaiting verdicts now for dozens of other defendants whom pellico had recruited to sexually abuse his wife for nearly a decade, this has been one of the darkest criminal cases in france's modern history, one in which gisele pelicot was determined to make public, hoping to help other sexual abuse victims. she's become an icon. prosecutors are seeking the maximum 20 year prison sentence for dominique pelicot and lower sentences for the other defendants. melissa bell, standing by for us at the courthouse in avignon. when do we get the actual sentence then? melissa? >> well, for the time being, max, what's happening inside that courthouse behind me is they're going through the verdicts of each of the men, more than a dozen of them now found guilty. >> the sentences we understand will be announced afterwards. essentially, they face sentences from between 4 to 20 years. in the case of dominique pelicot and a few others. and of course, as you can see by the amounts of people outside this courtroom today, max, this is a trial that has been so extensively followed, it isn

pellico led the men right here. how did he communicate with the men? what were the tactics he used? what was his playbook? >> 50 men accused in the mass rape of giseleot. she was drugged. >> drugged, unconscious by her husband. >> dominique pelicot gisele pelicot admitted to recruiting, enlisting other men. prosecutors say to rape his wife. sparked outrage across france. >> global concern about violence against women. >> cnn has gained exclusive access to police reports with thousands of messages that dominic exchanged with the 48 men who were convicted of aggravated rape alongside him. >> he didn't have to search far for his accomplices. they all live within a 30 mile radius of his house in maison. >> this area was so quiet and nice area. and now we don't know if somebody who is a the next job is one of these men. it changes everything from a firefighter to a journalist to a nurse from 27 years old to 74 years old. >> all the men were connected by one website. coco shut down this summer. coco's chat rooms were easy to access. >> it was not buried in the dark web, as one man convicted of raping gisele pelicot said. >> geoff duncan contact coco becau

as one man accused of raping gisele pelicot said this tran dang contact kobani randi kaye khuza'a she was mangione under the pseudonym available all night. pellicoays he posted in a chat room called without her knowledge i'm looking for a pervert accomplice to abuse my sleeping wife. you have to be clean without aftershave. no long dirty nails, dominic said. over time, he built a network of men. he told the men what drugs to buy and how to use them. dominic pellico never thought his text messages or his alleged crimes would see the light of day, and they probably wouldn't have if it weren't for the events that took place right here on september 12th, a security guard caught him red handed, filming up the skirts of several women. >> c c c. >> police, police director protesters are calling for all the men accused to face the maximum sentence of 20 years, but some could be handed far less as the trial comes to a close, giselle's message of shame changing sides has resonated around the world, and whatever the outcome, the case is set to impact france's attitude to sexual violence for years to come. >> now, jake, the individual verdicts for dominique

giselle. she decided to waive her right to anonymity and has spoken openly in court, saying it's time to look at this macho, patriarchal society and change the way it looks at rape. 15 men, including pellico, have pleaded guilty to rape. others say they thought that a husband's consent was enough. now, exclusive access to french police reports reveal exactly how her husband found men to rape his wife. we have to warn everyone that the content is graphic and it's disturbing, saskya vandoorne reports i've come here to retrace the steps of all those men who visited dominique pelicot house in the middle of the night his case really has captured the world's attention, with so many people asking why. >> we're going to focus instead on how pellico led the men right here, the way he communicated, the tactics he used, how he came to be on trial for mass rape and drugging his wife, what was his playbook? >> 50 men accused in the mass rape of gisele pelicot. she was drugged, drugged, unconscious by her husband. >> dominique pelicot dominique pelicot admitted to recruiting, enlisting other men to join to rape his wife, sparked outrage across france. >> global concern about violence against women cnn

let me just say, my one observation was this has all gone on in the week that we have seen giselle pellico enormously courageous woman who was drugged and then raped by more than 50 men. >> this was in france. >> this was in france. >> in france is now of global renown for her courage. in the same week that this is going on now, that woman was clapped in and out of court as a measure of solidarity, because we all are outraged at what went on. this woman will only own one kind of clap, i bet you. >> blimey. well, listen, i think i've got to say >> blimey. we