Gisèle Pelicot's Ex-Husband Found Guilty Of Rapes, All Other Charges Against Him In France | rssama.com

AVIGNON, France (AP) — A French tribunal connected Thursday declared nan ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot blameworthy of aggravated rapes and each different charges against him.

The verdict for 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot was publication by nan lead judge of nan tribunal successful Avignon, Roger Arata. He hasn’t yet delivered nan sentence, which tin beryllium up to 20 years imprisonment.

The historical lawsuit has profoundly shaken nan state complete nan past respective months.

Dominique Pelicot, admitted that for years he knocked his past woman of 50 years retired pinch narcotics truthful that he and strangers he recruited online could maltreatment her while he filmed nan assaults.

The appalling ordeal inflicted complete astir a decade connected Gisèle Pelicot, now a 72-year-old grandmother, successful what she thought was a loving matrimony and her courageousness during the bruising and stunning trial person transformed nan retired powerfulness institution worker into a feminist leader of nan nation.

Stretching complete much than 3 months, nan proceedings galvanized campaigners against intersexual unit and spurred calls for tougher measures to stamp retired rape culture.

Dominique Pelicot and 49 different men were tried successful nan confederate French metropolis of Avignon for aggravated rape and attempted rape and look up to 20 years imprisonment if convicted.

Prosecutors asked that he get nan maximum punishment and for sentences of 10 to 18 years for nan others. They besides requested a four-year situation word for different suspect who was tried for aggravated intersexual assault.

This courtroom sketch by Valentin Pasquier shows Gisèle Pelicot, left, and her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot, right, during his proceedings astatine nan courthouse successful Avignon, confederate France, connected Sept. 17, 2024.

AP Photo/Valentin Pasquier, File

The 51 men were each accused of having taken portion successful Dominique Pelicot’s sordid rape and maltreatment fantasies that were acted retired successful nan couple’s status location successful nan mini Provence municipality of Mazan and elsewhere.

Dominique Pelicot testified that he hid tranquilizers successful nutrient and portion that he gave his past wife, knocking her retired truthful profoundly that he could do what he wanted to her for hours.

One of nan men was connected proceedings not for assaulting Gisèle Pelicot but for drugging and raping his ain woman — pinch nan thief and narcotics from Dominique Pelicot, who was besides tried for raping nan different man’s wife.

The 5 judges voted by concealed ballot successful their rulings, pinch a mostly ballot required to convict and besides for nan sentences of those recovered guilty.

Gisèle Pelicot’s courageousness successful waiving her correct to anonymity arsenic a subsister of intersexual maltreatment and successfully pushing for nan hearings and shocking grounds — including videos — to beryllium heard successful unfastened tribunal person fueled conversations some connected a nationalist level successful France and among families, couples and groups of friends astir really to amended protect women and nan domiciled that men tin play successful pursuing that goal.

“Men are starting to talk to women — their girlfriends, mothers and friends — successful ways they hadn’t before,” said Fanny Foures, 48, who joined different women from nan feminist group Les Amazones successful gluing messages of support for Gisèle Pelicot connected walls astir Avignon earlier nan verdict.

“It was awkward astatine first, but now existent dialogues are happening,” she said.

“Some women are realizing, possibly for nan first time, that their ex-husbands violated them, aliases that personification adjacent to them committed abuse,” Foures added. “And men are starting to reckon pinch their ain behaviour aliases complicity — things they’ve ignored aliases grounded to enactment on. It’s heavy, but it’s creating change.”

A ample banner that campaigners hung connected a metropolis wall other nan courthouse read, “MERCI GISELE” — convey you Gisèle.

Dominique Pelicot first came to nan attraction of constabulary successful September 2020, erstwhile a supermarket information defender caught him surreptitiously filming up women’s skirts.

Police subsequently recovered his room of homemade images documenting years of maltreatment inflicted connected his woman — much than 20,000 photos and videos successful all, stored connected machine drives and catalogued successful folders marked “abuse,” “her rapists,” “night alone” and different titles.

The abundance of grounds led constabulary to nan different defendants. In nan videos, investigators counted 72 different abusers, but weren’t capable to place them all.

Although immoderate of nan accused — including Dominique Pelicot — acknowledged that they were blameworthy of rape, galore didn’t, moreover successful nan look of video evidence. The hearings sparked wider statement successful France astir whether nan country’s ineligible meaning of rape should beryllium expanded to see circumstantial mention of consent.

Some defendants based on that Dominique Pelicot’s consent covered his wife, too. Some sought to excuse their behaviour by insisting that they hadn’t intended to rape anyone erstwhile they responded to nan husband’s invitations to travel to their home. Some laid blasted astatine his door, saying he misled them into reasoning they were taking portion successful consensual kink.

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