France: Dissatisfaction With Verdict in The Gisele Pelicot Rape Trial

Gisele Pelicot (C) with her lawyers in Avignon, France, Dec. 19, 2024. Photo: EFE

December 19, 2024 Hour: 9:05 am

Her husband and 51 rapists received lighter sentences than expected.

On Thursday, Gisele Pelicot, who was raped dozens of times after being subjected to chemical subduing by her husband, said she respected the sentences handed down against her attackers.

“At this moment I am thinking of the unrecognised victims whose stories remain in the shadows. I want them to know that we share the same struggle,” she said.

“I wanted, by opening the doors of this process, for society to make its debates its own. I have not regretted it at any time,” said the victim, who fought for the court hearings to be public even when some of the videos of the rapes recorded by her husband were shown.

“I am now confident in our ability to collectively face a future in which everyone, men and women, can live in harmony with respect and mutual understanding,” Gisele added, thanking all the signs of support she has received throughout the process and which gave her “strength to go to the hearing every day.”

She also had words of thanks for her lawyers, the journalists, the associations that help victims but, above all, for her family, her three children and her four grandchildren: “They are the future and for them I wanted to carry on this fight.” Her calm attitude, however, was not shared by many French human rights defenders and gender activists.

If you wonder why women don't report rape, consider this. Pelicot was raped countless times by 100s of men, recorded 20,000 times. With all this documented PROOF, it's still had to go to trial, men still denied rape & there is still no guarantee they'll all be jailed. pic.twitter.com/L7QfOpsQjy
— Vittoria (@vitt2tsnoc) December 18, 2024

“Shame on Justice!” shouted many of the people who had come to the doors of the Avignon Court to learn the verdict in the ‘Pelicot case’, unhappy with the sentences handed down, far below those requested by the prosecution for the majority of the 51 convicted.

The Court president prevented public access to the courtroom, but hundreds of people gathered in front of the Avignon Palace of Justice to support Gisele Pelicot, who has become an icon of women’s liberation.

When it was announced that her husband, Dominique Pelicot, had been found guilty, there was enthusiastic applause among the attendees, most of them women and many with banners in support of Gisele and with very harsh words against the rest of the accused. But the initial joy turned into a certain disappointment as the sentences pronounced became known.

Although Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the court left open the possibility for him to be released when he served two thirds of his sentence after a prior evaluation.

The anger increased when it became known that the rest of the convicted received sentences lower than those requested by the prosecution and that six of them will be released because they had been sentenced to sentences exempt from serving time behind bars and having served part of them in preventive detention.

“Shame on Justice! Shame on Justice!” was chanted, among other cries. The testimonies of disappointment increased and some women were very angry with the court’s decision. Many considered it incomprehensible that some of the accused had been sentenced for rape but were not going to go to prison.