France, Gisele Pelicot after her husband’s conviction: “Deep emotion, it was a very difficult ordeal”

Thursday 19th December 2024 07:54 AM

The man was found guilty of aggravated rape and will have to serve 20 years in prison

December 19, 2024

“It’s with deep emotion that I am speaking to you today, this process has been a very difficult test.” He said it Gisele Pelicotspeaking before the Avignon court after the pronouncement of the sentence in the trial against thefrom her husband Dominique Pelicot e di 50 co-accused for sexual violence against women over several years. Dominique Pelicot, 72, admitted to having drugged his wife, to whom he had been married for 50 years, for years to abuse her. The violence, committed by the husband himself and by strangers recruited online, was also filmed.

Gisèle Pelicot: “Never regretted an open-door trial”

“I’m not never regretted it” to have refused a closed-door trial. The woman added. “I think first to my three children and my grandchildrenbecause they are the future and it is also for them that I have carried on this fight”, Pelicot said again, “I also think of my daughters-in-law and all the other families touched by this drama. I don’t think about the victims recognized. I want you to know that we share the same struggle.” Pelicot also thanked the public who supported her during these long weeks, stating that it is also thanks to them that she found “the strength to return every day to face these long days of hearings”.

Gisèle Pelicot: “I respect the Court’s decision”

“I respect the Court’s decision“, the woman told journalists outside the court. The ex-husband was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum sentence, while the 50 other co-accused were imposed pene lower than those that had been requested, which go from 3 to 15 years. These penalties have sparked criticism. Immediately after the sentence was pronounced, several protesters outside the courthouse of Avignon protested shouting ‘Shame on the judicial system’.

Gisèle Pelicot to other victims of violence: “We share the same struggle”

Speaking to journalists, the woman then addressed a thought “also to all the families affected by this tragedy”. “I also think of the unacknowledged victims, whose stories often remain in the shadows. I want you to know that we share the same struggle,” said Gisèle Pelicot.