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, his lawyer has confirmed.
Speaking to broadcaster France Info, lawyer Béatrice Zavarro said Dominique Pelicot wants to spare his ex-wife the painful ordeal of another trial, but also admitted there’s a chance a new trial in front of a public jury could result in a longer prison sentence.
Of the 50 accused of rape, just one was acquitted but was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault. Another man was also found guilty on the sexual assault charge that he was tried for — meaning all 51 of the defendants were found guilty in one way or another.
Seventeen men plan to appeal, according 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 nearly 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 recollection of the events and spent years wondering why she was often so tired.
The trial gripped France and raised new awareness about 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 should fall on her abusers, not her.
In turn, she was applauded by the public and turned into an icon against sexual violence.
Those convicted range in age from 26 to 74. Many of them deny having raped Gisèle Pelicot, saying her then-husband manipulated them or that they believed she was consenting.
“We share the same fight,” she said in her first words after the court in the southern French city of Avignon handed down prison sentences. She added that she was thinking of her grandchildren during the gruelling trial, which lasted more than three months.
“It’s also for them that I led this fight,” she said at the time.
—with files from The Associated Press