More than a dozen men convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot plan to appeal their sentences, but her ex-husband, the mastermind behind her abuse, will not be one of them, her lawyer confirmed.
Speaking to the France Info radio station, lawyer Béatrice Zavarro stated that Dominique Pelicot wants to save his ex-wife the painful test of another testbut he also admitted that there is a possibility that a new trial before a public jury could result in a longer prison sentence.
Of the 50 accused of rape, only one was acquitted but found guilty of aggravated sexual assault. Another man was also found guilty of the sexual assault charge for which he was tried, meaning that all 51 defendants were found guilty in one way or another.
seventeen men plans to appealaccording to the French media.
The court sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping Gisèle Pelicot and allowing other men to rape her while she was unconscious.
This courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier shows Gisèle Pelicot, left, and her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot, right, during their trial, at the Avignon court in Avignon, southern France, on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 .
Valentin Pasquier / The Associated Press
During the trial, Dominique Pelicot admitted that for almost a decade he involuntarily drugged his wife through food and drink and invited dozens of men to rape her while she was unable to give consent. Gisèle Pelicot stated that she remembers nothing of what happened and spent years wondering why she was often so tired.
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The trial shocked France and raised new awareness about sexual violence. Gisèle Pelicot waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse and successfully lobbied for the hearings and shocking evidence (including home videos of her ex-husband's rapes) to be heard in open court, insisting that the shame should fall on their abusers. she doesn't.
In turn, she was applauded by the public and became an icon against sexual violence.
Demonstration in support of Gisèle Pélicot and all rape victims on September 14, 2024.
Alain Apaydin / ABACA Press
Those convicted are between 26 and 74 years old. Many of them deny raping Gisèle Pelicot, saying that her then-husband manipulated them or that they believed she was consenting.
“We share the same struggle,” he said in his first words after the court in the southern French city of Avignon handed down the prison sentences. He added that he was thinking about his grandchildren during the grueling trial, which lasted more than three months.
Gisele Pelicot speaks to the press as she leaves the courtroom, at the courthouse in Avignon, southern France, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024.
Lewis Joly/Associated Press
“I also led this fight for them,” he said at the time.
—with files from The Associated Press
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