A man who repeatedly drugged his then wife and invited strangers to rape her while she was unconscious has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after a historic mass trial.
Warning: This story contains details that readers may find distressing
He is one of 51 men who were on trial for participating in the attacks against Ms Pelicot, 71.
All of the men were found guilty of at least one offence, with nearly all convicted of rape, after a trial which shocked France and made headlines around the world.
The defendants have been sentenced to a total of more than 400 years.
Dominique Pelicot had captured thousands of photos and videos of the men engaging in sexual acts with the victim while she was unconscious.
Following the verdicts, his lawyer said there are 11 remaining unidentified suspects from the abuse videos.
The jail term handed down to Dominique Pelicot is the maximum available for aggravated rape in France.
Image: Gisele Pelicot arrives at court to hear the verdicts
Image: A supporter holding up a sign saying ‘Thank you Gisele’
The high profile case led women in France and other countries to join demonstrations in solidarity with Ms Pelicot – who waived her right to anonymity during the trial as she insisted it was for perpetrators to feel “shame” and not victims.
The mother-of-three, who arrived at the court in Avignon smiling today as she was welcomed by her supporters, looked at each defendant directly as they were found guilty.
She had earlier told reporters she would speak after the verdicts had been delivered.
Her supporters had shouted “justice for Gisele” and applauded her as she made her way to the courthouse.
Image: Gisele Pelicot making her way to court today for the verdicts. Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: Reuters
Soldier, plumber and retired firefighter among offenders
Following the sentencing of her then husband, the other 50 defendants were handed jail terms ranging between three and 15 years.
Among them were Joan K, a 27-year-old soldier who was handed a 10-year sentence for raping Ms Pelicot twice in 2019 and 2020, and Ahmed T, a 54-year-old plumber who has been jailed for eight years for raping her once in 2019.
All of the 50 defendants can only be identified by their first name and the initial of their surname for French legal reasons.
Romain V, a 63-year-old retiree, was jailed for 15 years for raping Ms Pelicot six times between December 2019 and January 2020.
Saifeddine G, a 37-year-old lorry driver who raped Ms Pelicot once at her home in 2019, was sentenced to three years in prison.
Jacques C, a 73-year-old retired firefighter, was jailed for five years for raping the victim once at her home in 2020.
Image: David, one of the Pelicots’ sons, gives a thumbs up outside court after the verdicts. Pic: Reuters
Image: From left: David, Caroline and Florian make their way to court. Pic; Reuters
Ms Pelicot had insisted that the trial was held in public and the court show the explicit videos of the rapes recorded by her then husband as she wanted people to “see the truth”.
Crowds, mostly made up of women, flocked to the courthouse this morning to show their support for Ms Pelicot during the trial – waiting hours to get inside, and holding up signs that read: “Gisele: Women thank you.”
The Pelicots’ three adult children Caroline, David and Florian were also seen arriving at court for the verdicts.
Ms Pelicot sat next to her youngest son Florian during the sentencings, with David giving a thumbs-up outside the court after the hearing was over.
During the trial Caroline had shouted at her father: “You will die alone like a dog in jail.”
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‘Gisèle Pelicot is an icon!’
‘They regarded me like a rubbish bag’
The Pelicots were married for 50 years and had three children, moving to a small town in Provence after they retired.
Everything appeared normal, until Ms Pelicot’s life was torn apart in late 2020.
Her husband was arrested in September 2020 for filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket.
Image: A sketch of Dominique Pelicot during the trial in September. Pic: Reuters
Police searched the couple’s house and electronic devices and found thousands of photos and videos of men engaging in sexual acts with Ms Pelicot while she appeared unconscious.
It was discovered that Dominique Pelicot had offered sex with his wife on a website and filmed the abuse. Ms Pelicot was so heavily drugged she had no recollection of being attacked and had to be told by the police what had happened to her.
The men, she told the court, treated her “like a rag doll, like a rubbish bag”.
The hard drive also contained naked images of the couple’s eldest daughter, although Dominique Pelicot denied ever abusing her, as well as images taken on a hidden camera of his pregnant daughter-in-law. Both victims also waived their right to anonymity.
Image: Dominique Pelicot in court
The defendants put on trial were of different ages, ethnicities and social backgrounds – and had been dubbed “Monsieur Tout le monde” or “Mr Everyman” by the French press, because their backgrounds are so varied.
Most lived within a 35-mile radius of the couple, and some were even known to Ms Pelicot.
Some denied the rape charges, claiming they believed Ms Pelicot had agreed to be drugged and was a willing participant in a sex game between the couple.
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The trial has sparked a debate about whether France should update its rape law, which does not require sex to involve consent.
Instead, prosecutors must prove a perpetrator’s intent to rape using “violence, coercion, threat or surprise”.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
At least 19 people have died after a Bangladesh air force plane crashed into a college campus, the military said.
The aircraft crashed into the campus of Milestone School and College in Uttara, in the northern area of the capital Dhaka, where students were taking tests or attending regular classes.
The pilot was one of the people killed, and, according to the military, 164 were injured in the incident.
The Bangladeshmilitary’s public relations department added that the aircraft was an F-7 BGI, and had taken off at 1.06pm local time before crashing shortly after.
Video shows fire and smoke rising from the crash site, with hundreds looking on.
Image: Pics: Reuters
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
Bengali-language daily newspaper Prothom Alo said that most of the injured were students with burn injuries.
Image: Pics: Reuters
Citing the duty officer at the fire service control room, Prothom Alo also reported that the plane had crashed on the roof of the college canteen.
Rafiqa Taha, a 16-year-old student at the school who was not present at the time of the crash, told the Associated Press that the school has around 2,000 students.
“I was terrified watching videos on TV,” she added. “My God! It’s my school.”
The main road entering the besieged Syrian city of Sweida from the west has changed dramatically over 12 hours.
A bulldozer, parked on the side of the road, has been used to create several berms to form a sand barrier around 25km (16 miles) from the city centre.
Dozens of Syrian security forces were standing in lines in front of the barricades when we arrived, and there were forces further up the road stopping vehicles from going any further.
Image: Syrian security forces at a checkpoint outside the besieged city
The Arab tribal fighters we’d seen fighting furiously inside the city the day before were now all camped alongside the road. Some were sleeping on the back of their pick-ups.
“We’re not giving up,” one shouted to us as we walked towards the checkpoint.
The ceasefire agreement between Druze leaders who are bunkered down inside the city and the Bedouins – and the tribal fighters who have flocked to join them – has frustrated some.
Some of them, waiting with guns slung over their backs, are itching to return to battle. But for now, tribal leaders have instructed them to hold fire.
Image: Arab tribal fighters have been blocked from entering Sweida by security forces
How long that will last is probably key to Syria’s future and whether it can be a peaceful one.
Khalaf al Modhi, the head of a group of tribes called United Tribes, told the group of fighters: “We are not against the Druze. We are not here to kill the Druze.”
But he spent many minutes castigating the senior Druze cleric inside Sweida whom many of the tribes see as the agitator behind the violent clashes.
Image: Khalaf al Modhi, who is the leader of a tribal group called United Tribes
Hikmat al Hijiri is head of a Druze faction that is deeply suspicious of the new government led by Ahmed al Sharaa and is resisting ceding power to Damascus.
The retreat of the Arab tribes from the city centre means the Druze militia under Hijiri’s control are now the ones deciding who goes in or out of the city.
About 30,000 mostly Druze people are thought to be trapped inside the city and surrounding towns, with no electricity, little internet and dwindling supplies of food and water.
Image: Druze civilian Kamal Tarrabey. He said 10 of his relatives were killed in the violent clashes
The humanitarian situation is dramatically worsening by the day. But at the time of writing, there were still no agreed safe corridors to bring out those pinned inside.
On top of this, there are nearly 130,000 people displaced and forced out of their homes because of the fighting, according to UN estimates.
Maintaining the ceasefire is key to ensuring solutions are found to help those suffering, and quickly. It’s also the most serious challenge facing the new Syrian leader and his interim government.
The level of distrust between the Hijiri-led Druze faction and the new government is strong and deep. So much so that the Druze leaders have refused to accept truckloads of aid organised by any of the government outlets.
Image: The White Helmets wait outside Sweida as the Druze leaders accept little aid from them due to their government connections
The new Syrian leader has struggled to convince the country’s minorities that their safety under his leadership is assured.
Druze civilians and human rights activists reported mass killings and executions of Druze by government troops who were sent in last week to quell the latest clashes between the Druze and Arab Bedouins who have been at odds for many years.
Government forces pulled out of the city only after Israel unleashed a spate of airstrikes, saying they were defending the Druze. The bombings killed hundreds of Syrian troops.
But with the withdrawal of the government troops, the Arab Bedouin population said the city’s Druze militia embarked on a string of revenge atrocities.
That in turn led to thousands of tribal fighters massing from around the country to defend their Arab brethren.
Image: Smoke rises from buildings in the city centre of Sweida
When we were inside the city, we saw multiple corpses lying on the streets, and many appeared to have been killed with a shot to the head.
Homes and businesses are still burning after mass pillaging as fighters retreated.
And now, there is a growing humanitarian disaster unfolding.
Additional reporting by camera operator Garwen McLuckie, specialist producer Chris Cunningham, as well as Syrian producers Mahmoud Mossa and Ahmed Rahhal.
Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford is in Sweida in Syria, where she has witnessed mutilated, burned and decomposing bodies after a week of fierce fighting in the region.
Government security forces have been redeployed to enforce the first day of a US-brokered ceasefire. Tensions remain high with fears of further violent clashes. Hundreds have died.
The clashes involve a religious sect called the Druze and other rivals factions in Syria.
Here’s what you need to know about the conflict and who’s involved.
Who are the Druze?
The Druze religious sect is an offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. About half of the roughly one million Druze worldwide live in Syria, with most others in Lebanon and Israel, including the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Image: A fighter raises his gun near the city of Sweida amid a fragile ceasefire. Pic: Chris Cunningham
The Druze largely celebrated the downfall of Bashar al Assad in December after an almost 14-year civil war, but were divided over interim president Ahmad al Sharaa, a former militant linked to al Qaeda who led Islamist rebels to overthrow the Syrian autocrat.
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A few months after the transition government forces clashed with pro-Assad armed groups on Syria’s coast, spurring sectarian attacks that killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority to which the former president belongs. (Assad now reportedly lives in exile in Russia).
The violence left other minority groups, including the Druze in the south, and the Kurds in the northeast, increasingly mistrustful of the new Sharaa government and worried whether it would protect them.
Multiple Druze militias have existed for years, originally set up to protect their communities against ISIS fighters and drug smugglers – and they have been reluctant to lay down their arms.
Government supporters often paint Druze factions as potential separatists or tools of Israel, where they are seen as a loyal minority within and often serve in its military.
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4:10
A ‘city on fire’ – this is what Syria’s ceasefire looks like.
What are the factions?
Diana Darke, an author, Arabist and Middle East cultural writer, told Sky presenter Barbara Serra there are three main Druze factions, two of which are keen to ally with the government, but the third is controlled by anti-government leader Hikmat al Hijri.
Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford says that that faction feels vulnerable and mistrusts the government, who they see as Islamic jihadis.
Why did the violence break out?
Deadly clashes broke out last Sunday in the southern province surrounding the city of Sweida between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes.
Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the conflict started with the kidnapping and robbery of a Druze vegetable seller by members of a Bedouin tribe who set up a checkpoint, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings.
Ms Darke says “horrible outbreaks of sectarian violence” are inevitable in a civil war-ravaged country with so many groups – and Sharaa doesn’t have “enough manpower” to prevent it.
Image: Tribal fighters who came to fight against Druze groups
Who else is involved?
Hijri called for intervention from Israel, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they would help to protect the Druze.
Israel bombed key military installations and carried out airstrikes which killed hundreds of Syrian government troops, who were initially sent to restore order before effectively siding with the Bedouins.
Thousands of fighters from Arab tribal groups across Syria also flocked to the area to support the Bedouin tribe.
“There has been absolutely brutal mayhem and total anarchy inside the city with mass looting, mass pillaging, and it looks like a substantial number of deaths,” says Crawford.
She says the tribes claim they “are not against the Druze, that this is not a sectarian fight, although it looks very much like that to outsiders like myself and many others”.
They have been directing their anger towards Hijri faction, with Khalaf al Modhi, the head of one group called United Tribe, seen telling followers: “We aren’t here to fight and kill Druze… we are here to stop that criminal Hijri who asked Israel to bomb our country.”
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4:10
A ‘city on fire’ – this is what Syria’s ceasefire looks like.
Has a ceasefire been negotiated?
By Wednesday, a truce had been negotiated, allowing Druze factions to maintain security in Sweida as government forces pulled out, although fighting between the Druze and Arab factions continued.
Crawford says she’s been talking to doctors, engineers, and architects who’ve travelled from the cities of Aleppo and Damascus with guns on their backs primarily to provide humanitarian aid, but also to fight Hijri, “who they see as a criminal gang leader who now has the backing of Israel”.
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The US, another key global player, has indicated its displeasure with the Israeli strikes in Syria and with the government for withdrawing its troops from Sweida.
US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack announced a ceasefire had been brokered between Israel and Syria on Saturday, hours before Syria’s internal security forces began redeploying to Sweida in a bid to restore order.
Syrian leader Sharaa said Sweida “remains an integral part of the Syrian state, and the Druze constitute a fundamental pillar of the Syrian national fabric,” vowing to protect all minorities in Syria.
What could happen next?
The situation has calmed, but it could go either way, says Crawford, adding: “I wouldn’t describe the ceasefire as anything other than fragile and shaky.”
Afraa Hashem from the Syria Campaign group said the chain of violence “is not isolated” and is growing beyond southern Syria.
“It’s spreading in northern Syria and dragging Syria towards civil war,” she told Sky presenter Barbara Serra.