A French court declared all 51 defendants guilty on Thursday in a drugging-and-rape case that shocked the globe and turned the victim, Gisele Pelicot, into a powerful emblem of bravery and strength.
Pelicot’s former husband of 50 years, Dominique Pelicot, had admitted to drugging her numerous times over nearly ten years to sexually assault her and to present her unconscious body for intercourse to many strangers he encountered online, while recording the abuse.
A panel of five judges imposed the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, as requested by the prosecutors.
The court set predominantly briefer sentences compared to the four-to-18 years sought by the prosecution for the other defendants, nearly all of whom faced charges of raping the unconscious Gisele Pelicot.
Overall, the court determined that 47 of the defendants were guilty of rape, two were found guilty of attempted rape, and two were guilty of sexual assault.
A cheer erupted outside the court in the southern French city of Avignon among the supporters of the victim when the news of the initial guilty verdicts emerged.
Numerous defendants refuted the allegations, claiming they believed it to be a consensual sexual game arranged by the couple and contending that it couldn’t be considered rape if the husband consented.
Dominique Pelicot, 72, denied misleading the men, saying they knew exactly what they were doing. “I am a rapist like the others in this room,” he said during testimony.
Gisele, aged 72 as well, relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial and insisted that distressing videos of the ongoing abuse, captured by her ex-husband, be shown in court, expressing her hope that this would encourage other women to come forward.
The trial has sparked protest rallies across France in support of Gisele and has prompted introspection, including discussions on the need to revise France’s rape law, which currently does not state that sex must involve consent.
Gisele glared at her abusers with unwavering resolve in the crowded courtroom daily, deriding any suggestion that she could have been a willing accomplice.
