Latest news with #LegionOfHonour
The Independent
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Gisele Pelicot awarded France's highest honour as country marks Bastille Day
Gisele Pelicot has been given France 's highest award as part of Bastille Day celebrations that included a traditional military parade and fly-past. Ms Pelicot – a global symbol in the struggle against sexual violence – was named knight of the Legion of Honour on a list published ahead of the national holiday. She waived her right to anonymity during the trial of her then-husband, who had drugged and raped her and invited dozens of strangers to also abuse her over the course of years. Following the three-month trial, her husband and the 50 other abusers were sentenced to a total of 428 years in prison. Nearly 600 other people were also given the award, including Holocaust survivor and French Resistance fighter Yvette Levy, and musician Pharrell Williams who has designed a collection for Louis Vuitton. Celebrations were taking place across the country on Monday culminating in fireworks in nearly every French town. The heart of the festivities was in Paris, where 7,000 participants marched on horseback or armoured vehicles in a military parade along the cobblestones of the Champs-Élysées. The annual event commemorates the storming of the Bastille fortress and prison on 14 July 1789, a pivotal moment that ignited the French Revolution and led to the overthrow of the monarchy. This year's event returned to Champs-Élysées after being moved to Avenue Foch by last year's Olympic Games. The French Army, Navy and air force paraded in front of French officials and visiting political leaders including Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto who is representing the world's biggest Muslim country. Indonesia contributed 451 soldiers to the parade, including a drum band of 189 musicians. For the first time, a prison dog was part of the Bastille Day parade, alongside his handler. The Belgian Malinois shepherd, Gun, is specialised in weapons and ammunition detection. Beyond the military spectacle in Paris are growing concerns about an uncertain world. On the eve of Bastille Day, Mr Macron announced €6.5 billion ($7.6 billion) in extra French military spending in the next two years because of new threats ranging from Russia to terrorism and online attacks. The French leader called for intensified efforts to protect Europe and support for Ukraine. 'Since 1945, our freedom has never been so threatened, and never so seriously,″ Mr Macron said. ''We are experiencing a return to the fact of a nuclear threat, and a proliferation of major conflicts.″ Many parts of France celebrated on Sunday evening, including in parts of Paris were 176 arrests were made in the metropolitan area according to Laurent Nuñez, prefect of police for Paris.
SBS Australia
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
Gisele Pelicot has been given France's highest honour
Gisèle Pelicot named a knight on France's Legion of Honour list. The award is France's highest civilian honour. Pelicot's lawyer said she is concentrating on writing a book. Gisele Pelicot, who became a feminist icon by publicly testifying over the mass rapes she endured, and rapper-turned-fashion designer Pharrell Williams were among 589 people awarded France's top civic honour. Pelicot, 72, and Williams were both named knights of the Legion of Honour on a list announced ahead of France's 14 July national day. She has since been named on lists of the world's most influential people by international media and the case helped forced a change in France's rape law. But Pelicot has remained silent since the trial. Her lawyer said she is concentrating on writing a book giving her side of the mass rape story which is to be released in 2026. During the trial, Pelicot said she was honoured to wear a scarf sent to her by an Australian women's organisation. Williams, 52, made his name as a rapper and singer but earned a second fortune as a music producer and after designing clothes and accessories for several brands. He has been Louis Vuitton's men's creative director since 2023. Actor Lea Drucker, veteran singer Sylvie Vartan, writer Marc Levy and Auschwitz deportee Yvette Levy, 99, were also among the figures awarded the Legion of Honour along with a host of former ministers, academics and top legal names.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gisèle Pelicot and Pharrell Williams among newly minted Légionnaires d'honneur
According to a decree published on Sunday, 589 people "committed to the general interest" will be awarded the Legion of Honour, France's highest national honour. The decorations will be awarded to 497 knights, 68 officers, 18 commanders, four grand officers and two grand crosses. This last distinction, the highest, will be awarded to the historian Mona Ozouf and the former President of the Constitutional Council Pierre Mazeaud. Related French opinion poll names Gisèle Pelicot personality of the year Among the knights is Gisèle Pelicot, who became an international feminist figure during the trial of the rapes she suffered under chemical subjection by her former husband and other men. Gisèle Pelicot refused to allow the trial to be held behind closed doors, insisting that the "shame should change sides". The American musician Pharrell Williams, who is also artistic director of Paris fashion house Louis Vuitton, is also among the personalities awarded the knighthood. Former ministers Eric Dupond-Moretti, Stanislas Guerini, Stéphane Le Foll and Olivier Véran have also been knighted. Another former minister, Bruno Le Maire, has been made an officer, as has the former secretary general of the Elysée Palace, Alexis Kohler.
BBC News
13-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Gisele Pelicot awarded France's Legion of Honour
Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman who earned international recognition after publicly testifying at her mass-rape trial last year, has been given France's top 72-year-old was named knight of the Legion of Honour on a list announced ahead of France's Bastille waived her right to anonymity during the high-profile trial against her husband who had drugged and raped her, in addition to inviting dozens of strangers to also abuse her over nearly a was among 589 other people given France's highest award on Sunday. She attended almost every day of the trial, which ended last December with Dominique Pelicot, 72, being given a maximum 20 years in jail for aggravated rape, after confessing to drugging her and recruiting around 50 men to rape her while she lay comatose in bed."I want all women who have been raped to say: Madame Pelicot did it, I can too," Pelicot previously told reporters, adding that she wanted to make "shame swap sides" from the victim to the President Emmanuel Macron has publicly paid tribute to Pelicot as a trailblazer, adding that her "dignity and courage moved and inspired France and the world".According to her lawyer, a memoir detailing Gisèle Pelicot's story in her own words will be published early next year.
Al Jazeera
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Jazeera
Feminist icon Gisele Pelicot awarded France's top civic honour: Report
Gisele Pelicot, who has been internationally hailed after testifying against her husband and dozens of other men who raped her, has been awarded France's top civic honour. Pelicot, 72, was named knight of the Legion of Honour on a list announced before France's July 14 national day, the AFP news agency reported on Sunday. She was among 589 people named for the honour, which recognises merit-based national service. Pelicot refused to remain anonymous and publicly testified at a trial in 2024 against her former husband, Dominique Pelicot, who drugged her and arranged for her to be raped by dozens of men over a decade. His co-conspirators tried to claim they were unaware that the acts were not consensual and blamed the husband. Gisele Pelicot at the time called it a 'trial of cowardice' and asserted there was no excuse for abusing her when she was unconscious. Her testimony gripped the world and led to Dominique Pelicot and 50 co-defendants being found guilty in the mass-rape case. Lauded for her courage in exposing the case, which forced a change in France's rape law, she has since been named among the world's most influential people in international lists. Gisele Pelicot has not spoken further since the trial. She is focusing on writing a book, scheduled for release in 2026, that delves into her perspective of the ordeal, according to her lawyer. Writers, artists and international figures are also on the Legion of Honour list. Singer, music producer and clothing designer Pharrell Williams, writer Marc Levy, actor Lea Drucker, singer Sylvie Vartan, and Holocaust survivor and educator Yvette Levy are some of the other recipients.
