Pelicot rape trial: All 50 men in court alongside Dominique Pelicot found guilty of Gisèle Pelicot rape and sexual assault – live updates | Rape trial against Gisèle Pelicot

The newspaper Libération described the court’s findings as “a judgment for the future” when it published a picture on its front page on Thursday.

“At the end of a historic trial that highlighted, in the words of Gisèle Pelicot, ‘the banality of rape’, the criminal court of Vaucluse has made its decision on the fate of the 51 defendants,” says the social Media.

The Front féministe international, an umbrella organization of 85 feminist collectives from eight countries, described Dominique Pelicot’s ruling as “historic”.

In a country where only 10% of victims of sexual violence file a complaint and 94% of those complaints are dismissed, in a country where rapists enjoy virtual impunity, this verdict is historic.”

The scale of the allegations against Dominique Pelicot made it historic, as did the “dignity and courage” of Gisèle Pélicot, a statement said.

“Shame has switched sides. Thank you, Gisèle Pélicot!” it added.

The organization also noted that another high-profile drug abuse trial is set to begin in France.

In November last year, center-right senator Joël Guerriau, 66, was arrested on allegations he drugged a member of parliament with the intent of raping or sexually assaulting her.

Allegedly drugged French MP Sandrine Josso described being “shaking and sweating” and fearing she was having a heart attack after drinking champagne laced with ecstasy.

Rémi-Pierre Drai, Guerriau’s lawyer, said the senator denied any wrongdoing. “Joël Guerriau is not a predator,” Drai said in a statement to The New York Times last year. “He is an honest, respected and respectable man who will restore his honor and that of his family, no matter how long it takes.”

Pelicot children ‘disappointed by low sentences’ in trial

Clémence Guetté, vice-president of the French National Assembly and a member of the far-left Indomitable France party (LFI), described the Mazan trial as “historic.”

She added on social media: “The upsurge of united feminist feeling that has been growing across France is a springboard from which we can continue our fight for equality and justice.” Let us fight for Gisèle and everyone else continue.”

In addition to Dominique Pelicot, fifty other men stood trial, all of whom were found guilty.

However, women’s rights activists expressed anger that the sentences imposed on most of them were lower than those recommended by prosecutors.

My colleague Angelique Chrisafis, sitting in the courtroom in Avignon, looked at some of her sentences as follows:

Charly Arbo, 30, a former vineyard worker who raped Gisèle Pelicot six times, including when she was 66^Th His birthday was 24 and he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Video evidence showed he also suggested drugging and raping his own mother along with Dominique Pelicot, but he said he did not follow through.

Romain Vandevelde, 63, a former forklift driver who raped Gisèle Pelicot six times in six months between 2019 and 2020, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He knew he was HIV positive at the time of the alleged rapes and had not worn a condom. His lawyer said that because he has been on HIV treatment since his diagnosis in 2004, he has an undetectable viral load and cannot transmit the virus.

Cédric Grassot, a software engineer who formerly ran a record store in Avignon, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for raping Gisèle Pelicot in her home in 2017. During the trial he had turned to Gisèle Pelicot in court and said: “That was me.” Your rapist. I was your torturer.”

Jean-Pierre M., 63, a former truck driver for an agricultural cooperative in southern France, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for drugging and raping his own wife using the same technique and organizing Pelicot to kill her along with him rape.

Gisèle’s supporters and women’s rights activists gathered outside the courtroom in Avignon began chanting: “Shame on justice.”

Their anger appears to be directed at the fact that some of the jury’s verdicts were lower than those demanded by the prosecution.

Dominique Pelicot’s lawyer says he is considering appealing the verdict

Manon Aubry, a member of the European Parliament and a leading figure in the far-left Indomitable France party (LFI), said the Mazan trial would “forever embody the fight against rape culture.”

She wrote on social media, adding:

A trial for posterity that should make us reflect on the attackers, the treatment of the victims and the concept of consent in a country where the overwhelming majority of victims never receive justice. So this shame can definitely change sides! Thank you Gisèle.”

French National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet posted on social media following the verdicts:

“Thank you for your courage, Gisèle Pelicot,” she wrote. “Because of you, the voices of so many victims are being heard today, the shame is changing sides, the taboo has been broken. Thanks to you, the world is no longer the same.”

A few photos from the courtroom in Avignon, taken before the judges announced that all 51 defendants had been found guilty: