Macron praises Gisèle Pelicot’s courage after shocking rape trial

France’s president on Friday thanked Gisèle Pelicot, the woman who was drugged and raped for a decade by her now ex-husband and strangers he enlisted online, for the strength and poise she showed during a trial that shocked the world.

“Thank you, Gisèle Pelicot…For all of us, because your dignity and your courage have moved and inspired France and the world”, Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media platform X, a day after her former husband Dominique Pelicot and 50 other defendants were found guilty after a three-month trial.

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became a hero in France and abroad after she waived her right to a closed trial, insisting that shame should trade sides from rape victims to perpetrators.

Her husband of decades, Dominique Pelicot, 72, had admitted to drugging her for almost a decade so he and strangers he recruited online could rape her.

A court in the southern city of Avignon found him guilty on Thursday and jailed him for 20 years.

His 50 co-defendants – dubbed “ordinary men” during the trial as they came from all walks of French life – were also found guilty and sentenced to between three and 15 years.

The three Pelicot children “are disappointed by these low sentences,” said a family member, asking not to be identified, adding that there was “no question” of any of the children wanting to speak to their father after the conviction.

Many defendants arrived with their bags packed and ready for prison. One of them was in tears as he hugged his companion before entering the courtroom.

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