Summary
A French court sentenced Dominique Pelicot, 72, to 20 years in prison for drugging and raping his ex-wife, Gisele Pelicot, and arranging for other men to rape her while unconscious over nearly a decade.
Of the 51 co-defendants, all were found guilty, with sentences ranging from less than 10 years to 20.
The trial, marked by shocking evidence, spurred national debate on rape culture and consent laws.
Gisèle’s courage in waiving anonymity has galvanized feminist movements, with campaigners calling her a national hero for sparking societal and legal reflection on sexual violence.
That’s not how the justice system works in most (all?) Europe. Crimes are not a point system where you redeem “prizes”, and the sentence is based on the particular crime committed, not the sum of all individual counts.
Many countries are also very rarely giving life sentences because they have generally very little point (no possibility to re-enter society=no rehabilitation possible) in addition to create other problems (like a complete disincentive to good behavior in prison - since literally nothing worse can happen to you).