"I am a rapist, like the others in this room," Frenchman tells court

Avignon, France — "I am a rapist," Dominique Pelicot , the 71-year-old Frenchman accused of drugging his wife so he and scores of strangers could assault her, told a court Tuesday, returning to the dock after being ill for around a week.

Pelicot used a cane as he slowly entered the courtroom in the southern city of Avignon before sitting on a blue armchair to give him enough comfort to take part in the hearings.

"I am a rapist, like the others in this room," Pelicot said, referring to the 50 other defendants in the mass trial — men he allegedly recruited online to rape his then-wife Gisele Pelicot .

"They all knew" that he was inviting them to rape her, he said, adding: "She did not deserve this."

Dominique Pelicot is accused of administering anti-anxiety drugs to Gisele over a period of almost a decade, from 2011 to 2020. While she was unconscious, he would rape her and recruited dozens of other men he met online to do the same. She has said she spent years speaking to doctors about unexplained amnesia, not realizing her husband was drugging her regularly.

Dominique Pelicot was only thwarted by chance, when police seized his digital devices after catching him capturing images up women's clothing at a store. They found hundreds of images of the abuse of his wife, who credited the police with saving her life by making the discovery.

He had already admitted the charges, but Tuesday was the first time he'd spoken at any length since the trial began on Sept. 2.

The court may also hear more from Gisele Pelicot, who was present in the courtroom alongside Dominique's brother Joel.

Beatrice Zavarro, the defendant's lawyer, told AFP on Monday that he was suffering from "a clot in the bladder" and the beginning of a kidney infection.

But a medical exam ordered by the presiding judge found that he was in a fit state to appear in court, avoiding a delay of weeks or even months to the hearings.

Adjustments would be made to the "sequencing of the hearings" and Dominique Pelicot would get "regular rest," Zavarro said, adding that the health complaints were not an attempt by her client to escape justice.

Dominique Pelicot's testimony will be decisive for the 50 other men, aged 26 to 74, who are on trial with him. Four of their cases are set to be heard in the coming days.

Some of the accused have admitted that he told them he was drugging his then-wife, while others claim they believed they were participating in a swinger couple's fantasy.

The case has prompted outrage across France, with thousands demonstrating in cities at the weekend to demand an end to rape and support Gisele Pelicot.

She requested that the trial be open to the public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

"Thanks to you I have the strength to see this fight through to the end," Gisele told demonstrators Monday.