French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Gisèle Pelicot for the strength she had shown in the mass rape trial of her husband and 50 other men. Describing her as a trailblazer for women, he said her “dignity and courage moved and inspired France and the world.”.
Her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot, 72, was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison for aggravated rape after confessing to drugging her for nearly a decade and recruiting dozens of men to rape her while she lay comatose in bed.
After 50 other men were given lighter sentences, Gisèle Pelicot said the trial was a hard ordeal but believed in a future wherein women and men could live in harmony with respect and mutual understanding.
It is this decision to waive anonymity and throw the trial open to the public that draws global attention to the issue of rape and drug-induced sexual assault.
Judges in Avignon, southern France, found all 51 defendants aged 27 to 74 guilty, but Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer said on Friday that “no sentence will give her back her ruined life.”
Her three children were said to have been disappointed that many of the sentences had been shorter than the terms requested by prosecutors. They ranged from three to 15 years, rather than the maximum of 18 sought by prosecutors. Forty-one of the men have been sent to jail immediately, reports say. Many of those convicted are likely to appeal against their sentences.
A lawyer representing Dominique Pelicot said his client had been “somewhat stunned” by the 20-year jail term and would decide whether to appeal in the coming days. Judges said he would have to serve two-thirds of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
