French President Emmanuel Macron has praised Gisèle Bellico for the strength she showed in the gang rape trial of her husband and 50 other men.
He described her as a pioneer in the field of women, and said that “her dignity and courage influenced and inspired France and the world.”
Her ex-husband, Dominique Bellicot, 72, was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison for aggravated rape, after he admitted drugging her for nearly a decade and recruiting dozens of men to rape her while she lay in a coma in bed.
After 50 other men were sentenced to reduced sentences, Giselle Bellico said the trial had been a difficult ordeal, but she believed in a future where women and men could “live in harmony with respect and mutual understanding.”
It was her decision to give up her identity and open the trial to the public that brought global attention to cases of drug-induced rape and sexual assault.
Judges in Avignon, southern France, convicted all 51 defendants, aged between 27 and 74, but Gisèle Bellicot's lawyer said on Friday that “no sentence will bring back her ruined life.”
Her three children were said to be disappointed because many of the sentences were shorter than the length of time requested by prosecutors. Their sentences ranged from three to 15 years, instead of the maximum of 18 years sought by prosecutors.
Reports say that forty-one men were sent to prison immediately. Many of those convicted are likely to appeal their sentences.
Dominique Bellicot's lawyer said he was “somewhat stunned” by the 20-year prison sentence and would decide whether to appeal the sentence in the coming days. Judges say he will have to serve two-thirds of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Activists against sexual violence stood outside the court throughout the trial and hope it will lead to reform of France's rape laws and change the debate about rape culture and drug-induced sexual assault.
“Shame changes” became one of the slogans of the case, and in a nod to the importance of the trial, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz thanked Giselle Bellicot for giving women around the world a “strong voice.”
“The shame always lies with the perpetrator,” Schulz added.
Antoine Camus, one of her lawyers, told France Info Radio on Friday that the trial would serve as a “building block” and that Gisèle Bellico, by making the proceedings public, sought to enable society to “deal with (the issues) and ask the right questions.”
The head of the French National Assembly, Yael Brown-Bivett, said a taboo had been broken: “The world is no longer the same thanks to you.”
Former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal expressed his hope that the gang rape trial would send a “shock wave” through the education of every young boy – “because this is where the struggle for equality and respect begins.”
