More than a dozen people were convicted of rape. Giselle Pellicote She plans to appeal the sentence, but her ex-husband, The mastermind behind her abuseThey won't be among them, his lawyer has confirmed.
Speaking to broadcaster France Info, lawyer Beatrice Zavaro said Dominique Pellicote wanted to save his ex-wife. Another painful ordealbut also acknowledged that a new trial before a public jury could result in a longer prison sentence.
Only one of the 50 rape accused was acquitted, but he was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault. Another man was also found guilty of sexual assault for which he was prosecuted – making all 51 defendants. Found guilty One way or another.
Seventeen men Plan to appealAccording to French news agencies.
The court sentenced Dominique Pellicote to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping Giselle Pellicote and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious.
In this courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier, Gisèle Pelicot during her trial Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, at the Avignon Courthouse in Avignon, southern France. Left, and her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot is shown on the right.
Valentin Pasquier / The Associated Press
During the trial, Dominique Pellicote admitted that for nearly a decade he had been drugging his unwitting wife through food and drink. Invited dozens of men to rape her. While she could not give consent. Gisèle Pelicot testified that she had no memory of these events and spent years wondering why she was often so tired.
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The case gripped France and sparked a new awareness of sexual violence. Gisèle Pelicot waived her right to anonymity as a rape survivor and successfully pressed for hearings and shocking evidence – including home videos of her ex-husband's rape – should be heard in open court, insisting that her abusers should be ashamed. Not him
In turn, he was admired by the public and Turned into an icon against sexual violence..
Demonstration in support of Gisèle Pélicot and all rape victims on September 14, 2024.
Alain Apaydin / ABACA Press
The convicts are aged between 26 and 74 years. Many of them denied raping Gisèle Pelicot, saying that her then-husband manipulated them or that they believed she was consenting.
“We are in the same fight,” he said in it First words After being sentenced to prison by a court in the southern French city of Avignon. She added that she was thinking of her grandchildren during the difficult trial that lasted more than three months.
Gisele Pelicot speaks to the press as she leaves the courtroom, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, at the Avignon courthouse in southern France.
Lewis Jolly / The Associated Press
“It is also for them that I led this fight,” he said at the time.
–With files from the Associated Press
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