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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.