At least 20 men, including husband, found guilty in Pelicot rape trial

BREAKINGBREAKING,

Frenchman Dominique Pelicot sentenced to 20 years in prison after court finds him guilty of all charges against him.

A French court has declared the ex-husband of Gisele Pelicot guilty of aggravated rapes and all other charges against him.

Frenchman Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to a maximum 20 years of imprisonment on Thursday for drugging and raping Gisele and allowing other men to rape her while she was knocked out, in abuse that lasted nearly a decade.

The court in Avignon found all 51 defendants guilty in a case that horrified the world and transformed the victim into a stirring symbol of courage and resilience.

Gisele was seated on one side of the courtroom, facing the defendants as the lead judge of the court, Roger Arata, announced one guilty verdict after another.

Working his way through the first names on the list, Arata declared “you are therefore declared guilty of aggravated rape on the person of Mme. Gisele Pelicot”.

The historic case has profoundly shaken France over the past several months.

Dominique Pelicot, 72, admitted that for years he knocked his then wife of 50 years out with drugs so that he and strangers he recruited online could abuse her while he filmed the assaults.

During the trial, some of the men acknowledged wrongdoing, while others said they believed Gisele had consented to sex.

This is a developing story. More to come…

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Al Jazeera and news agencies