Avignon [France], December 20 : A French court on Thursday (local time) declared the ex-husband of Gisele Pelicot and 50 other co-defendants guilty in a mass-rape case that hogged the headlines across the world, Al Jazeera reported.
A panel of five judges at the criminal court in Avignon judged 72-year-old Dominique Pelicot guilty on Thursday of orchestrating the drugging and the raping of his wife for almost a decade, offering her up to his 50 co-conspirators, as per Al Jazeera.
Dominique Pelicot, who pleaded guilty to the charges during the three-month trial, was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in jail, with prosecutors seeking terms of between four and 18 years for the other defendants. Almost all of the 50 co-defendants - aged between 27 and 74 - were accused of raping Gisele Pelicot. Some of the men acknowledged wrongdoing, while others said they believed she had consented to sex, as per Al Jazeera.
During the trial, Dominique Pelicot admitted that for years, drugged his ex-wife of 50 years so that he and strangers he recruited online could abuse her while he filmed the assaults. He denied misleading the other defendants, saying they knew exactly what they were doing. "I am a rapist like the others in this room," he said during testimony, as per Al Jazeera.
In all, the court found 47 of the defendants guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault.
Lead judge of the court, Roger Arata said Dominique Pelicot would not be eligible for parole until he has served two thirds of his sentence.
"I respect the court and the decision of its verdict," Gisele Pelicot told reporters, adding that she was now thinking of the "unrecognised victims whose stories often remain in the shadows". She added she believed in a future where "everyone, woman and man, can live in harmony," Al Jazeera quoted her as saying.
Gisele Pelicot said she "never regretted" opening the trial to the public. She waived her right to anonymity during the hearings. "I've decided not to be ashamed, I've done nothing wrong," she testified in October. "They are the ones who must be ashamed," she said.
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