At the Mazan rape trial, Gisèle Pélicot delivers her story with her head held high

It was the first time that the sound of her voice was heard. For four years, Gisèle Pélicot had been silent. Four long years “gone up in smoke”spent trying to rebuild herself away from the world, among her own people, after having been drugged without her knowledge and handed over to strangers by her own husband for almost ten years. “From the outside, I look solid. But inside, I’m a field of ruins.”she said on Thursday, during the opening of this fourth day of hearing. Before breathing: “I still wonder how this woman can be here, in front of you, today…”

The one who refused the closed session in order “Let shame change sides” remained at the bar for four hours, without flinching, responding precisely and in detail to all requests. Gisèle Pélicot was not indignant when asked if, by chance, she was not “accomplice” of these rapes. She did not waver either when all the details of her intimate life were spread out before everyone. She did not lower her head when a most humiliating image captured by her husband was shown to the audience. She remained in control of herself when some defense lawyers bombarded her with more than dubious questions about an extramarital relationship she had had. She was as calm as a rock when asked if…