A French woman whose husband has admitted to drugging her repeatedly over 10 years so she could be raped by dozens of strangers will take the stand on Thursday (Sep 5) in the mass trial of 51 of her alleged abusers.
Gisele P, now 72, has remained stoic and silent through the three first days of the high-profile case in the southern city of Avignon, communicating through her lawyers.
But she has insisted that the trial take place in public so the full facts of the case emerge.
There will be “extremely difficult moments” for her as she testifies, said Stephane Babonneau, one of Gisele P’s two lawyers.
First glimmers of defence strategy appeared on Wednesday as some lawyers asked investigators whether Gisele P and her husband had a libertine relationship, or whether it was credible that she had noticed nothing for the entire decade of the abuse.
The line of questioning appeared to upset the closely listening plaintiff, though she stayed when her three children briefly left the courtroom in disgust.
“Of course she was offended,” said Antoine Camus, her second lawyer.
“She wanted to respond, we felt her bobbing up and down behind us, saying ‘I want to answer, I just have to answer’, and we told her, ‘tomorrow!'”
Source: CNA
