Avignon rape trial Dominique Pelicot found guilty - 20 years in prison

The verdicts in the Pelicot case were handed down on Thursday: The approximately 50 defendants were all found guilty.

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10.54 a.m.

Verdict pronounced

The court president announces that the 50 or so defendants will be taken from the courtroom to prison immediately. They would have time to speak to their lawyers beforehand. This concludes the sentencing. A detailed summary follows here.

10.50 a.m.

Defendant has fled to Morocco

One of the co-defendants has absconded to Morocco. He is sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison. He tells his lawyer that he will "never return to France".

10.22 a.m.

Co-defendants must also go to prison

The co-defendants in the rape case also have to go to prison. The prison sentences so far range between five and 13 years. One defendant will be released today as he suffers from medical problems and has to be kept in a special prison.

10.20 a.m.

Pelicot must serve 20 years in prison

Dominique Pelicot has been sentenced to 20 years in prison following his conviction. He bursts into tears in the courtroom, reports the AFP news agency.

10.11 a.m.

New guilty verdicts all the time

Over 50 people have been charged in the Pelicot case. All have so far been found guilty of aggravated rape. The sentence is not yet known, but the public prosecutor's office is demanding four to 18 years in prison for the accomplices.

10.00 a.m.

Further accomplices guilty

Various other accomplices will also be found guilty of aggravated rape in the next few minutes. The sentencing is currently underway and the court is constantly finding new defendants guilty.

9.54 a.m.

Dominique Pelicot guilty

The main defendant Dominique Pelicot has been found guilty on all charges. These include the aggravated rape of Gisèle, aiding and abetting rape and the illegal recording of pornographic material. The sentence will follow later.

9.51 a.m.

Sentencing begins

The court in Avignon in the south of France began handing down its verdict this morning in the trial for a hundred counts of rape. Presiding Judge Roger Atara began the reading of the verdicts against the 51 defendants amid a large media crowd. Almost all of them are accused of aggravated rape and therefore face 20 years in prison.

The main defendant in the trial is Dominique Pelicot. He had repeatedly drugged his then wife Gisèle for almost ten years, had sex with her and offered her to dozens of strangers for rape, as he confessed in court. The other men, who are said to have been between 21 and 68 years old at the time of the crime, are to be imprisoned for between 4 and 18 years, according to the public prosecutor's office. More than half of them demanded an acquittal.

9.46 a.m.

Gisèle Pelicot received with applause

Shortly before the verdict was announced in the trial for the serial rapes in Avignon, Gisèle Pelicot, celebrated for her courage, was received with great applause in court. "Bravo, bravo", shouted numerous people as the 72-year-old arrived at the courthouse on Thursday. The verdicts are to be announced this morning at the end of the three-and-a-half-month trial.

The public prosecutor is demanding 20 years in prison for the confessed serial rapist Dominique Pelicot. He had repeatedly drugged his now divorced wife for almost ten years and offered to rape her on the internet.

The prosecution is demanding prison sentences of between four and 18 years for the 50 co-defendants. The defense is demanding acquittal for a large number of the men who abused the unconscious Gisèle Pelicot. Many explained that they had thought they were taking part in a couple's sex game.

The 72-year-old Gisèle Pelicot had refused a trial in camera, arguing that "shame must change sides".

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In the sensational rape trial in Avignon, France, Dominique Pelicot and 50 other defendants are due to be sentenced today, Thursday. The public prosecutor has demanded 20 years in prison for the confessed serial rapist, who repeatedly drugged his wife with sleeping pills for almost ten years and offered to rape her on the internet.

The prosecution demanded prison sentences of four to 18 years for the co-defendants. The defense, on the other hand, demanded an acquittal for a large number of the men who had abused Gisèle Pelicot while she was unconscious.

The arguments repeatedly put forward by the lawyers about their clients: they did not know what they were doing. They had not wanted to rape her at all. Many explained that they were convinced that they had taken part in a sex game with a permissive couple.

Videos of the acts shown in the courtroom

None of the co-defendants had had a problem with the fact that Gisèle Pelicot, who was even snoring at times, had obviously not been able to give her consent to sex. There was even an attempt to explain that the presence of her husband was sufficient to accept her consent.

The 72-year-old Gisèle Pelicot has become a heroine of the women's movement in France as a result of this trial: She had demanded that the trial not be held in camera. She expressly called for the videos of the rapes to be shown in the courtroom "so that shame changes sides".

The trial in Avignon is likely to go down in French history just like the trial of another Gisèle, the lawyer Halimi, who paved the way for abortion without punishment.

The trial in Avignon caused a worldwide sensation. Numerous international media followed the court hearings. Gisèle Pelicot was met with respectful applause as she made her way through the courthouse. Strangers gave her flowers and wrote to her saying that they felt encouraged by her to finally file a long-delayed lawsuit or divorce.