Dozens of men including the ex-husband of Gisèle Pelicot were found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting her in a historic trial that shocked France.
Dominique Pelicot, 72, who pled guilty to drugging her and inviting dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious over the span of a decade, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Roger Arata, the lead judge in the court in the southern town of Avignon.
Another 46 other men were found guilty of rape, two of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault in the high profile case, according NBC News' British broadcasting partner Sky News. They ranged from 26 to 74 in age and were handed sentences from three to eight years.
Around 15 had admitted to the facts, although only a handful of the men accused expressed remorse in the lead-up to their verdicts.
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Pelicot listened on in the courtroom as her ex-husband's verdict was read out, with a number of other defendants also present in the room, surrounded by police officers.
With emotions expected to run high, some 200 police officers were expected to be deployed in and around the courthouse, packed with family members of the accused, spectators and journalists from around the world. More than 150 journalists were accredited to cover the trial, which many activists see as a watershed moment for women’s rights in France.
In an earlier hearing, it was revealed that Pelicot only learned of the horrors she endured when police started an investigation into her husband after a security guard caught him filming up the skirts of women with his smartphone.
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Investigators told they had found videos on her husband’s devices that suggested she herself had been the victim of a major crime.
While she could have remained anonymous, she called for the trial to be held in public and she instructed her lawyers to fight for harrowing video and other evidence to be played out in open court.
She said she was doing this in a bid to put an end to the “macho, patriarchal society that trivializes rape.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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