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Today, in southern France, verdicts were handed down in a 15-week mass rape trial. A man who drugged his wife and invited other men to rape her while he made movies was given the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The 50 other participants were also found guilty - most of them on charges of rape - but were given more lenient sentences, which angered some people attending the trial. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley was at the court in the city of Avignon.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #1: (Singing in French).
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: A crowd began gathering before dawn outside the court. They were hopeful as they sang a 1970s feminist anthem. A giant banner proclaiming, merci, Gisele, hung on the city's medieval ramparts. The petite septuagenarian victim at the heart of this trial has become France's new feminist icon, says activist Blandine Deverlanges.
BLANDINE DEVERLANGES: Because she refused to be silenced, and she wanted her story to be public. And she gave us a huge present for us women because she gave us her story. So now it's our story.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #2: (Chanting in French).
BEARDSLEY: The crowd screamed, "rapist - we see you," as the accused arrived at the court, wearing hoodies, baseball caps and COVID masks.
They carried duffel bags, knowing they might go directly from court to prison. Some were accompanied by wives and family members. Some 350 journalists, dozens from foreign countries, crammed into four spillover rooms to watch and hear the verdict. Dominique Pelicot, Gisele's longtime husband and father of her three children, got the maximum sentence of 20 years. The 50 others were also found guilty, but they received lighter sentences. Several who had already served time in pretrial detention actually walked free today.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #3: (Shouting in French).
BEARDSLEY: That enraged many in the crowd out front, who verbally attacked one provocative defense lawyer when he left the courtroom. Vigdis Herrera (ph) said she was disgusted.
VIGDIS HERRERA: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: "French justice is shameful," she says. "When you see that men who do that only get three years, it means it's accepted by society, and I don't want to live in that society."
But defense lawyers told NPR each man's case was different, and being tried as a group made it harder to get a fair hearing. One said the case was too sensationalized, and it's true that three months of nonstop coverage pitched French society into a heated debate about patriarchy, machismo and systemic misogyny. Lawyer Elodie Tuaillon represents rape victims in Paris.
ELODIE TUAILLON: I must say it's a bit of a disappointment for us because the penalties are quite low.
BEARDSLEY: But she says the trial was still a huge step forward.
TUAILLON: Something really historical happened, and we owe it to Gisele Pelicot first - that's for sure. It gave a lot of strength to women - much more confidence in justice also, which is very important, I think.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD #4: (CHEERING)
BEARDSLEY: When Pelicot stepped out, the crowd was waiting for her.
There's just hundreds of people out front. She's walking down the street with a scrum of cameras and reporters all around her, following her.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Shouting) Merci.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Shouting) Merci.
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BEARDSLEY: The world also applauded. German chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed Pelicot's courage on social media. Mexican Paula Rebel, who lives in Avignon, called it an amazing moment.
PAULA REBEL: Because most women in Latin America, most women in Mexico - they don't get any justice, and they are blamed. So seeing this - this is a victory.
BEARDSLEY: Provence tour guide Claire Turquin-Silhouette says Pelicot has changed France.
CLAIRE TURQUIN-SILHOUETTE: She took what she went through to help society to move. We need some strong woman like that.
BEARDSLEY: Speaking after the verdict, Pelicot said, when she opened the doors of this trial in September, she wanted society to reflect on the debate she knew would take place. I never regretted this decision, she said.
Eleanor Beardsley, NPR News, Avignon. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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