"We're expecting the judges to start reading out the verdicts at 9:30"

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00:00That's right, Oliver. We're expecting the judges to start reading out those

00:05verdicts at 9.30 here in the courtroom in Avignon. Five judges who have been in

00:12deliberation since Monday after we heard the last words of Dominique

00:18Pellicou and the 50 other men who stand alongside him. This could last

00:23somewhere through to later morning. We're not exactly sure how long it will

00:28take. Obviously we can't imagine the 50-51 verdicts and

00:32potential sentences to be read out by those judges. As you said, the

00:37maximum sentence of 20 years for aggravated rape has been demanded by

00:42public prosecutors for Dominique Pellicou, Giselle Pellicou's

00:45former husband, and it's a range of between 4 to 18 years for either

00:50aggravated rape or sexual assault for the other 50 men who stand at trial

00:54alongside him. We're expecting to see around 100 police officers in the

00:59courtroom whilst those verdicts are read out, because currently one-third of the

01:04men on trial are in police custody, but the rest of those men are free in

01:10the meantime. They're free men in the meantime, and as we understand, if

01:14they are found guilty, will be taken into detention immediately by those police

01:18officers. Can you describe for us the atmosphere outside the court there?

01:22It's been a case that has attracted a huge amount of public attention.

01:30That's right, Oliver, a huge amount of attention, and even just walking here to

01:34the courthouse in Avignon, about a 15-minute walk for us, you can see many

01:38messages of support that have popped up overnight for Giselle Pellicou. Just

01:43here, opposite the courthouse, there is a massive banner saying Merci Giselle,

01:48thank you Giselle. We've seen several other messages as feminist groups have

01:52come to Avignon and have put those messages up overnight for the

01:56grandmother, and I don't know if you can potentially make out behind me, but

02:01behind the courthouse, which is yet to have opened, there is already a

02:04crowd of people, which is just really testament to how much attention this

02:09trial has attracted. Many journalists, in fact, there is nearly 190 media

02:16outlets accredited for this trial, 80 of which are foreign press. There's also, of

02:21course, members of the public. Members of the public have been attending this

02:23trial since the very beginning to applaud Giselle Pellicou and support her.

02:28There are already dozens of people standing outside the courthouse right

02:32now, waiting for it to open before that verdict. And Giselle Pellicou has found

02:37herself an accidental feminist heroine, mainly due to her ordeal and also her

02:43bravery during the trial. In what way might this case change attitudes toward

02:48sexual violence in France? Well, obviously, a lot of people have been

02:54discussing this and it's ignited a real debate here in France, as you said,

02:58Pellicou being this kind of reluctant feminist icon after waiving her

03:01anonymity. She says that she wanted the shame to shift from the

03:07victim to the perpetrator. She's also said that she really wants to highlight

03:11the issue of drug-induced rapes, which is a little-known issue here in

03:15France. And all of her decisions to have waived her anonymity and to

03:23stand up, as you said, in trial to those suspects has really gained her a lot of

03:29admiration here, not just in France, but across the world. I think this case

03:34speaks to a lot of ordinary French women because it just involves

03:39a lot of ordinary people. It's not like the Me Too movement of a few years ago.

03:43This is a very ordinary case, as a lot of people have been dubbing it,

03:47involving ordinary men. There is a range of ages from 27 to 74. They have all

03:53kinds of different professions, they're from all different walks of life. And the

03:56poise that Giselle Pellicou has had throughout this trial, she has attended

04:01here every day, she didn't have to, has gained her a lot of respect. And every

04:05day, women, mainly women, have been coming to this courtroom in Avignon to

04:10applaud her, to offer her bouquets of flowers, sometimes kisses on the cheek,

04:14to speak to her and give messages of support. So I think this is a case, a

04:18trial, that has really resonated with a lot of people here in France and

04:21obviously also across the world. Thank you very much for that, Selena Sykes, who

04:25will be covering that trial and the verdict in Avignon today.

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