Ex-husband in French mass rape trial asks for 'forgiveness' from his family

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00:00Now after three and a half months of hearings, the 51 men on trial for the

00:04rape of Giselle Pellico have had their one last chance to put their sides of

00:08the story before verdicts are expected to be announced this Thursday. The case

00:13has been adjourned with those verdicts expected soon then. Dominique Pellico,

00:17her former husband, has asked the court, or asked the family rather, to accept his

00:21apologies and also praised her courage. A short while ago I spoke to our reporter

00:26at the court for a Selena Sykes. This morning we have heard the last words

00:32from all the 51 men on trial here, starting with Dominique Pellico, the

00:38ex-husband of Giselle Pellico. For 50 years Dominique Pellico was saying

00:43that he wanted to praise the courage of his wife and he said that he had

00:48regretted what he had done. He also extended his apologies to his family and

00:54he said that he was deeply ashamed of what he had done. He said that a lot of

01:01things were said about him, some of them lies, but he admitted to everything that

01:06he is accused of in a court here today. The other 50 men on trial with him

01:12from all walks of life, aged between 27 to 74 years old, also had their

01:20last words. A lot of them, for the vast majority of their past, said that

01:24they had nothing to add. You can just hear now actually Giselle Pellico is

01:28coming out of the courtroom as we speak and as we have heard every day since

01:33this trial has begun, she is met by a round of applause from the members of

01:37public who are here to watch the trial. She is just walking down now,

01:42surrounded by cameras and members of the press as well as members of the public

01:47who are applauding her as we speak. She has been attending this trial every day

01:52here in Avignon, this trial that has lasted three and a half months. As I was

01:58saying, the other 50 men who also are on trial here with Dominique Pellico also

02:04had their last words here today. Some of them thanked their lawyers,

02:08the judges and their families for the most part. Many of them said that

02:13they had nothing to add. Some of them denied rape, were adamant in their

02:18denial, one saying that he was not a rapist. Many maintained their defense

02:22saying that they were unaware that Giselle Pellico had not given her

02:27consent, saying that Dominique Pellico had manipulated them, that they

02:30thought they were taking part in some kind of a sex game. A few of them did

02:36apologize to Giselle Pellico. Giselle Pellico, who kept her head down, was on

02:40her phone for the vast majority of the court case. She did look up towards

02:45the end and Giselle Pellico, who is just making her way out of the quarter, as I

02:49speak, Stuart.

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