Dominique Pelicot, sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for drugging his (now ex-) wife Gisèle to rape her and allowing dozens of others to do the same, has decided not to appeal, his lawyer told AFP and Franceinfo on Monday.
Dominique Pelicot (72) was the main defendant in a French rape trial that has shocked the world. The judges of an Avignon courthouse convicted him of aggravated rape of Gisèle Pelicot (72) earlier this month. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum penalty in France.
Prosecutors requested this after Dominique Pelicot admitted that between July 2011 and October 2020 he had drugged his wife so that he and strangers he recruited online, some of them locals, could abuse her while they were living in Mazan (south-east France). He was also found guilty of recording and possessing images taken without the knowledge of his wife, daughter and daughters-in-law.
After the sentence was handed down, the defendant had 10 days to appeal the sentence, and according to his lawyer, Béatrice Zavarro, was considering doing so. But on Monday she confirmed that he has decided not to appeal the verdict.
However a new trial will still take place as more than 15 of the 50 other men who were on trial and found guilty earlier this month – aged between 27 and 74 – have lodged appeals. Their sentences ranged from three years in prison, two of which were suspended, to 15 years of imprisonment. The case will be held before an assize court.
