Dominique Pelicot will not appeal his conviction for serial rape against Gisèle, his ex-wife

The Frenchman Dominique Pelicot, sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging his then wife Gisèle for a decade to rape her along with dozens of strangers, will not appeal his sentence, his lawyer announced on Monday. “Dominique Pelicot decided not to appeal the sentence”lawyer Béatrice Zavarro told AFP.

An appeal “would subject Gisèle to a new ordeal, to new confrontations, which Dominique Pelicot refuses,” he added, specifying that for his 72-year-old client, “it is time to put an end to this.”

Also read: Gisele Pelicot’s ex-husband asks his family to accept his apology for what he did to his partner

Despite the decision of the main accused, a new trial will still be held, this time before a court made up of a popular jury, since More than fifteen of the fifty co-defendants have already filed an appeal.

On December 19, a French court made up of five professional judges, found guilty the 51 defendants – men between 27 and 74 years old – most of them tried for aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot between 2011 and 2020.

After almost four months of trial, the court handed down sentences ranging from 20 years in prison for Dominique Pelicot, the maximum penalty, to three years, two of them suspended, for a retiree tried for sexual assault.

Dominique Pelicot never denied having secretly drugged his wife with anxiolytics for almost a decade to put her to sleep and rape her with strangers he contacted on the internet.

According to Béatrice Zavarro, So far 17 defendants have appealed their sentences and others could still do so this Mondaylast deadline.

Also read: Gisele Pelicot case: accused of raping and drugging his ex-wife will pay 20 years in prison

After the sentence, Gisèle pronounced “with deep emotion” a statement that has gone around the world. “This trial has been a very difficult test (…), I think of the unrecognized victims whose stories often remain in the shadows. I want them to know that we share the same struggle,” he said. And she only asked for one thing after the verdict was announced: “I trust in our collective ability to build a future in which everyone, women and men, can live in harmony, with respect and understanding.”

Also One of her three sons, David Pelicot, spoke out this Friday, expressing his satisfaction with the sentence issued against his father for the “atrocities” committed against his mother.but clarified that they are somewhat “disappointed” with the sentences of the rest of the accused, which were lower than what was requested by the Prosecutor’s Office.

“We have won a battle, but not the war,” he told the BFMTV channel, and stressed that we must continue to raise awareness against chemical submission and sexual crimes in general.

On the other hand, he regretted that Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter, daughters-in-law and grandchildren, with all the attention that has been paid to her, have been left to a certain extent in the background in the entire process.

Also read: Gisele Pelicot on sentencing her ex-partner: “Respect for the court and the decision of its verdict”

“There are many questions for which we have not had answers”stressed David Pelicot, and recalled that there is also a complaint from his own son for alleged touching by his grandfather, although he refused to make statements while the investigation is being carried out.

Some intimate images of the daughter and daughters-in-law were also found in Dominique Pelicot’s files (dozens of photos and videos that were the main evidence of this trial), but during the hearings he denied having abused them as he had done with his ex-wife. .

Gisèle “is not afraid”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, has become a global icon in the fight against sexual violence against women for refusing a closed-door trial, to which she was entitled as a victim, so that “shame can change sides.”

Stéphane Babonneau, one of her lawyers, had said last week that his client “is not afraid” of a new trial..

Also read: “In this room they call me an alcoholic,” wife of accused abuser Dominique Pelicot

Asked about his client’s state of mind after this emblematic trial of sexual assaults on women, Babonneau declared that Pelicot “is very happy to return home and very relieved.”

“She doesn’t want to be seen as an icon, as someone extraordinary. In reality, she is someone who remains very simple and who has decided to try to live her life in the most normal way possible,” she added. “The last thing she wants is for other victims to think that this woman has extraordinary strength,” he insisted.

After the verdict, the entire French political class and even international leaders, such as the German head of government Olaf Scholz or his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sánchez, praised his “bravery.” “Thank you Gisèle Pelicot (…) for the women who will always have [en usted] a pioneer to speak and fight,” the French president, Emmanuel Macron, wrote this Friday on social network X, who praised her “dignity” and “courage.”

Dominique Pelicot could also be tried for an attempted rape in 1999 in the Paris region, and for the rape and subsequent murder of a 23-year-old real estate agent in Paris in 1991.