At least 15 men in Gisèle Pelicot rape trial appeal against convictions
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Court found 51 men guilty including Dominique Pelicot, who was given a 20-year prison sentence. At least 15 of the men found guilty of raping or sexually abusing Gisèle Pelicot have appealed against their convictions and will be given a second trial. All 51 men, including her husband, Dominique Pelicot, were convicted and given prison sentences of between three and 15 years before Christmas after a trial lasting three and a half months. Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years.
The court found 47 men guilty of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault. The men have until midnight on Monday to lodge an appeal. Apart from Pelicot’s jail term, all the sentences were below that requested by the public prosecutors, who also have until the same deadline to appeal.
An appeal hearing, which will go over all the evidence again, will be held in Nimes and heard by an ordinary jury, unlike the Avignon trial that was overseen by a panel of professional judges. After the marathon hearing in Avignon, Béatrice Zavarro, lawyer for Dominique Pelicot, 72, a former electrician who had admitted drugging and raping his wife and inviting at least 50 and possibly more than 80 men into the couple’s Provençal home to rape her, said she would discuss with her client whether to appeal against the verdict.
Pelicot’s now ex-wife Gisèle, 72, believes she could have been raped by him and strangers more than 200 times between 2011 and 2020. Pelicot was only caught after police arrested him for filming up the skirts of female shoppers in a local supermarket and found tens of thousands of photographs and videos of the abuse.
