AVIGNON, France (AP) 鈥� Gis猫le Pelicot spoke of her 鈥渧ery difficult ordeal鈥� after 51 men were convicted Thursday in the drugging-and-rape trial that riveted France and , expressing support for other victims whose cases don't get such attention and 鈥渨hose stories remain untold.鈥�
鈥淚 want you to know that we share the same fight,鈥� she said in her first words after the court in the southern French city of Avignon handed down prison sentences ranging from three to 20 years in that spurred .
Pelicot's ex-husband, , and all but one of his co-defendants were convicted of sexually assaulting her over a period of nearly a decade after he'd knocked her unconscious by lacing her food and drink with drugs. The other co-defendant was convicted of drugging and raping his own wife with Dominique Pelicot's help.
As campaigners against sexual violence protested outside the courthouse, the 72-year-old Gis猫le Pelicot expressed 鈥渕y profound gratitude towards the people who supported me."
鈥淵our messages moved me deeply, and they gave me the strength to come back, every day, and survive through these long daily hearings,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his trial was a very difficult ordeal.鈥�
Pelicot 鈥� and beyond for courageously demanding that all the evidence be heard in open court 鈥� also said she was thinking of her grandchildren after enduring the more than three-month trial, where she sat in the same courtroom as her attackers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also for them that I led this fight," she said of her grandkids. 鈥淚 wanted all of society to be a witness to the debates that took place here. I never regretted making this decision. I have trust in our capacity to collectively project ourselves toward a future where all, women and men, can live in harmony, with respect and mutual understanding. Thank you.鈥�
Maximum penalty for her ex-husband
The court found Dominique Pelicot guilty on all charges and sentenced him to 20 years in prison, which was the maximum possible. At age 72, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. He won't be eligible to request early release until he's served at least two-thirds of the sentence.
Dominique Pelicot and the other defendants stood up, one after the other, as chief judge Roger Arata read out the verdicts and sentences, which took more than an hour.
Gis猫le Pelicot sometimes nodded her head as verdicts were announced.
Dominique Pelicot's lawyer, B茅atrice Zavarro, said she would consider an appeal, but she also expressed hope that Gis猫le Pelicot would find solace in the rulings.
鈥淚 wanted Mrs. Pelicot to be able to emerge from these hearings in peace, and I think that the verdicts will contribute to this relief for Mrs. Pelicot," she said.
Supporters decry some sentences as too low
Of the 50 accused of rape, just one was acquitted but was instead convicted of aggravated sexual assault. Another man was also found guilty of the sexual assault charge he was tried for 鈥� producing 51 guilty verdicts in all.
In a side room where defendants' family members watched the proceedings on television screens, some burst into tears and gasped as sentences were revealed.
Protesters outside the courthouse followed the developments on their phones. Some read out the verdicts and applauded as they were announced inside. But disquiet grew as many of the sentences were lower than campaigners had hoped for, and cries of 鈥渟hame on the justice system!鈥� rose up from the crowd.
In addition to , prosecutors asked for sentences of 10 to 18 years for the others charged with rape. But the court was more lenient, with many defendants getting less than a decade in prison. The five judges voted by secret ballot, by majority for the convictions and sentences.
For the defendants other than Dominique Pelicot, sentences ranged from three to 15 years imprisonment, with some of the time suspended for some of them. Arata told six defendants they were now free, accounting for time already spent in pretrial detention.
Sophie Burtin, 53, who traveled from Lyon to show support for Gis猫le Pelicot, said the trial 鈥渂rought the subject of rape out into open鈥� but expressed disappointment that 鈥渢he sentences aren鈥檛 at all exemplary.鈥�
鈥淪ome men will think, 鈥極K, it鈥檚 alright, what they did wasn鈥檛 really a rape,鈥欌�� she said. "The message that鈥檚 sent is, 鈥業s it really serious?鈥� 鈥� with sentences that are so light. For me, It was meant to be a historic trial, but the feeling I have is that history hasn鈥檛 been made.鈥�
Who is Gis猫le Pelicot?
Gis猫le Pelicot's courage during and her appalling ordeal, inflicted on the retired power company worker in what she had thought was a loving marriage, galvanized campaigners and spurred calls for tougher measures to stamp out rape culture.
She waived her right to anonymity as a survivor of sexual abuse and successfully pushed for the hearings and shocking evidence 鈥� including her ex-husband's homemade videos of the rapes 鈥� to be heard in open court, insisting that shame should fall on her abusers, not her.
The hearings and among families, couples and friends about how to better protect women and the role that men can play.
鈥淢en are starting to talk to women 鈥� their girlfriends, mothers and friends 鈥� in ways they hadn鈥檛 before,鈥� said Fanny Foures, 48, who joined other women in gluing messages of support for Gis猫le Pelicot on walls around Avignon before the verdict.
鈥淚t was awkward at first, but now real dialogues are happening,鈥� she said.
鈥淪ome women are realizing, maybe for the first time, that their ex-husbands violated them, or that someone close to them committed abuse,鈥� Foures added. 鈥淎nd men are starting to reckon with their own behavior or complicity 鈥� things they鈥檝e ignored or failed to act on. It鈥檚 heavy, but it鈥檚 creating change.鈥�
A banner that campaigners hung on a city wall opposite the courthouse read, 鈥淢ERCI GISELE鈥� 鈥� thank you Gis猫le.
Ex-husband's sordid images
The defendants 鈥� strangers Dominique Pelicot recruited online 鈥� were all accused of having taken part in his that he acted out with them and filmed in the couple's retirement home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere.
He first came to the attention of police in September 2020 when a supermarket security guard caught him surreptitiously filming up women鈥檚 skirts.
Police subsequently found his library of images documenting years of abuse 鈥� more than 20,000 photos and videos in all, stored on computer drives and catalogued in folders marked 鈥渁buse,鈥� 鈥渉er rapists,鈥� 鈥渘ight alone鈥� and other titles.
The abundant evidence led police to the other defendants. In the videos, investigators counted 72 different abusers but weren鈥檛 able to identify them all.
Although some of the accused 鈥� including Dominique Pelicot 鈥� acknowledged that they were guilty of rape, many didn't.
Some argued that Dominique Pelicot鈥檚 consent covered his wife, too. Some insisted that they hadn鈥檛 intended to rape anyone when they responded to the husband鈥檚 invitations to come to their home. Some laid blame at his door, saying he misled them into thinking they were taking part in consensual kink.
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Associated Press journalist Alex Turnbull in Paris and Nicolas Vaux-Montagny in Lyon, France, contributed.
John Leicester, Tom Nouvian And Marine Lesprit, The Associated Press
