A Frenchman who is on trial for drugging his wife and letting multiple strangers rape her is not avoiding his trial, his lawyer has said after he said he was too ill to give evidence.
Dominique Pélicot did not take the stand on Wednesday after being found vomiting and fainting in his prison cell.
The 71-year-old, who has admitted the charges against him, was due to be cross-examined at the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon, where he is one of 51 defendants.
But, before proceedings were due to get underway, he appeared too ill to carry on, and was rushed out of the building.
His defence lawyer, Beatrice Zavarro, called for a full medical examination, saying: “I met Mr Pélicot lying down in prison.
“He had vomited, had fainting spells, and had pain in his kidneys. Physically, he is here, but probably not in a fit state to take part in the proceedings in a calm manner.”
Pélicot is facing a jail sentence of up to 20 years, along with 50 other defendants, accused of the aggravated rape of Gisèle Pélicot, also 71, over almost a decade. But he has not appeared at his trial for the past two days because of ill health.
He briefly turned up on Wednesday, with his left hand supporting his head as he slumped against the side of a gallery, looking around the court with a vacant expression.
Within minutes, Judge Roger Arata called for Pélicot to leave, confirming that he had been suffering with pain in his intestines first reported on Monday.
Heads shook in disbelief around the court, as Ms Zavarro insisted his absence was not a “ploy”.
She said: “Let’s be clear about this. Mr Pélicot will not be avoiding his own trial. He will be here. He will reply to all the questions, but he can’t control what happens to his body. He didn’t plan to be ill. He is not a robot.”
It is technically possible to avoid a trial in France because of extreme ill health.
Abdominal pain is frequently the result of problems in the small and large intestine, and counsel for Pélicot said it has been affecting him for a number of days.
The judge said other witnesses would be heard until Pélicot was fit enough to be cross-examined, possibly on Thursday.
On Monday, psychologists descrived Pélicot as a “Jekyll and Hyde” character who drugged his wife so strangers could rape her at night.
He told detectives that he considered himself a “good husband: to Ms Pélicot, whom he married in 1971 and had three children with.
The couple’s divorce was finalised last month, and Ms Pélicot is now one of the main prosecution witnesses against him.
She has sat in court throughout the last seven days of the trial, along with her children.
On Friday, Pélicot’s own daughter described him as “one of the greatest sexual predators” of recent years.
Caroline Darian, 46 said he secretely photographed her in the nude, along with her two sister-in-laws. This was at the same family home in Mazan, some 20 miles from Avignon, which Pélicot had invited the men to after contacting them online.
Pélicot was first arrested in September 2020 for secretely filming up women’s skirts at a supermarket in Carpentras.
His devices were searched, and there were hundreds of photos and pornographic videos of women, including family members.
It was while in custody that Mr Pélicot reported a hard drive, hidden under a printer, which contained a file called “Abuses”.
It classified the nickname and telephone numbers of attackers, together with some 3,800 photos and videos of Gisèle Pélicot being raped, between 2011 and 2020.
Detectives have listed a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom have been identified. Pélicot moved his family from greater Paris in 1991, and later allegedly set up the sex ring.
It involved advertising on a site for partners on an online forum called “Without Her Knowing”.
Of the 83 men involved, 51 aged between 26 and 73 were identified and arrested by the police.
Pélicot is said to have sedated his wife by putting Temesta – a powerful anxiolytic – into her evening dinner.
Alleged rapists involved in the case include civil servants, ambulance workers, soldiers, prison guards, nurses, a journalist, a municipal councillor, and truck drivers.
In a separate case, Pélicot has been charged with raping and murdering a 23-year-old estate agent in Paris in 1991.
He has admitted one attempted rape in 1999, after DNA testing proved a case against him.
The Avignon aggravated rape case continues, and is due to last until December 21. Fourteen of the other defendants have admitted rape, while the rest deny any wrongdoing.