Dominique Pelicot: Completed - 17 convicted in the mass rape process appeal

Dominique Pelicot: Completed - 17 convicted in the mass rape process appeal

in France have seventeen men who were convicted of seventeen men who were convicted in the pelicot- mass tap process Appeal against the judgment filed, according to the public prosecutor's office in the French city of Avignon. All 51 defendants were guilty of rape or sexual coercion when the process ended at the beginning of the month.

shocking revelations in the pelicot process

Pelicot had invited more than 50 men to his house in Mazan in southern France over a period of almost 10 years to rape his wife Gisèle Pelicot at the time, which he regularly stunned with a sedative. The month -long process shook France and international observers and forced the country to deal with a culture in which deeply rooted misogynia and systematic sexual assault are widespread.

Information from the public prosecutor and the lawyer

Monday marks the last day on which the 51 defendants can make an appeal, according to the public prosecutor. Pelicot, who was imposed on a 20-year sentence-this is the highest level of punishment in France for serious rape-will not proceed against the judgment, explained his lawyer Béatrice Zavarro on Monday.

in French media said Zavarro that her client believed that an appeal procedure would "expose Gisèle to what she rightly described as 'an exam'." She added: "Today he considers it necessary to complete the legal side and determine that this chapter must be closed."

admissions and judgments

Fourteen of Pelicots co -accused and Pelicot himself owed the rape in the process. Others rejected the charges and claimed that the consent of a husband was sufficient. One of the accused was convicted of attempted and severe rape of his own wife after coping with Pelicot's methods.

The men's punishments ranged from three to 15 years, whereby many of them received shorter punishments than required by the prosecutors - including some who were released after the judgment on December 19 with a suspended sentence.

Gisèle Pelicot: A symbol of courage and solidarity

Gisèle Pelicot was praised for her courage throughout the procedure. She gave up her anonymity to make the process public and said she hoped that this would help other women to express themselves and to show other victims of sexual violence and rape that they do not have to be ashamed.

At the end of the process, she expressed her solidarity with other surviving sexual attacks before the court in Avignon: "I think of all the unspecified victims whose stories often go in secret. I want you to know that we are leading the same fight," she said

critical questions in the courtroom

This case is not just a tragic story from France, but an urgent wake -up call for society to deal with questions of consent, sexual violence and the necessary protection of victims.