Featured Image Credit: BBC/CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Crime, News, World News
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Crime, News, World News
Gisèle Pelicot has issued an important final message after her husband was given a maximum sentence in the abuse trial.
Speaking outside of the French court earlier this afternoon (19 December), the 72-year-old said she was thinking about her children and grandchildren and all the other families and the victims of stories 'often in the shadows', saying 'we have the same struggle'.
She also shared her 'profound gratitude' to those who supported her during this 'difficult ordeal', saying their statements gave her the strength to make it through the long and taxing trial.
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Gisèle also issued a thank you to her lawyers, saying: "To my lawyers, finally, I would like to express my recognition and esteem to them."
She assured supporters she 'never regretted' going public with the trial, 'so society could see what was happening'.
Following the verdict, she issued an important message saying she has 'confidence in our capacity collectively to find a better future where women and men alike can live together with mutual respect'.
"Please, if you could respect my emotional state as much as possible. Thank you. It's with a lot of emotion that I'm here to make a statement", she stated as per Sky News.
"This case was a very difficult test for me. And I'm thinking first and foremost of my three children, David, Caroline and Florian.
"I'm also thinking about my grandchildren because they are the future and for them, I wanted to really put this struggle forward. Oran and Celene as well.
"I'm thinking about all the other families affected by this case and the non recognised victims in these stories, that are often in the shadows. You must know you share my struggle.
"I'd like to express my gratitude, my deepest gratitude to all the individuals who have supported me throughout this, with the witness statements and the testimonials.
"This really gave me strength to come back day after day for this long trial. I'd like to thank the Association for Support of Victims who have supported me throughout and all the journalists who have followed my case since its beginnings.
"I'd like to thank you and recognise the faithful and respectful treatment of the case that you have daily given. My lawyers, I thank you. Thanks for supporting me throughout this long journey.
"I wanted when I started on the 2nd of September to ensure that society could actually see what was happening and I never have regretted this decision.
"I now have faith in our capacity to collectively to take hold of a future in which everybody, women, men, can live together in harmony, in respect and mutual understanding. Thank you."
Earlier this year, Gisèle appeared before a judge and jury at a court in Avignon, France, where her ex-husband, Dominique Pelicot, stood on trial after admitting to drugging her before inviting dozens of strangers to rape her unconscious body.
He was apprehended earlier this year after French authorities discovered records of the heinous assaults against the mother-of-three inside the Pelicot property, indicating that Dominique had filmed every single interaction.
Fifty other men - with ages ranging between 26 and 74 and a mix of professions, including a police officer and a journalist - stand accused of having abused Gisèle between 2011 and 2020, after her husband drugged her with a mix of sedatives and anti-anxiety medication before he invited the strangers to their Mazan, Provence, home via online chatrooms.
And, in today's verdict, a French court declared Dominque guilty of rape and all other charges against him.
Dominque is also found guilty of the attempted aggravated rape of the wife of one of the co-accused.
He has been sentenced to 20 years.