Gisèle Pelicot’s ex-husband won’t appeal sentence for orchestrating mass rapes – National

More than a dozen men convicted of rape Gisele Pelicot plan to appeal their sentences, but her ex-husband, the mastermind behind her abusewill not one of them, his lawyer has confirmed.

Speaking to broadcaster France Info, lawyer Béatrice Zavarro said that Dominique Pelicot wants to spare his ex-wife. painful ordeal of another trialbut also admitted that there is a chance 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 was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault. Another man was also found guilty of the sexual assault charge he was tried for – meaning all 51 defendants were found guilty in one way or another.

Seventeen men plan to appealaccording to French news outlets.

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.

During the trial, Dominique Pelicot admitted that for almost a decade he drugged his unwitting wife through food and drink and invited dozens of men to rape her while she could not consent. Gisèle Pelicot testified that she has no memories of the events and spent years wondering why she was often so tired.

The trial gripped France and brought new awareness to sexual violence. Gisèle Pelicot waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse and successfully pushed for the hearings and shocking evidence – including her ex-husband’s homemade videos of the rapes – to be heard in open court, insisting that shame would fall on her abusers, not her.

In turn, she was applauded by the audience and turned into an icon against sexual violence.

Trending now

• Young Edmonton woman develops 3D printer for space, works for NASA

• Taliban to close all NGOs that employ women in Afghanistan

Those convicted range in age from 26 to 74. Many of them deny having raped Gisèle Pelicot, saying that her then-husband manipulated them or that they believed she had consented.

“We share the same struggle,” she said to herself first words after the court in the southern French city of Avignon handed down a prison sentence. She added that she thought of her grandchildren during the grueling ordeal, which lasted more than three months.

“It is also for them that I lead this fight,” she said at the time.

–with files from The Associated Press

& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.