Nimes, France: Less than a year after the landmark verdict in a drugging and rape trial that shook France and turned Gisèle Pelicot into a global icon, she was greeted with applause on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) as she arrived at a courthouse for the appeal of a man challenging his conviction.
Husamettin Dogan, sentenced to nine years in prison last December, denies he intended to rape Pelicot. He argues that he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot, Gisèle Pelicot’s ex-husband, who drugged his wife and offered her to strangers online before filming the assaults.
The 44-year-old construction worker went on trial on Monday in Nimes, in southern France, on charges of aggravated rape by administering substances that impair judgement or self-control, an offence carrying up to 20 years in prison.
Gisele Pelicot arrives to an appeals court in Nimes, southern France, on Monday.Credit: AP
He remains free pending the verdict. Prosecutors had sought 12 years at his first trial, but the court imposed nine.
Wearing a pink jacket, Pelicot entered the courthouse under police escort, smiling as she shook hands with supporters who shouted “Thank you!” and other words of encouragement.
In the original proceedings, Pelicot’s ex-husband and 50 other men were convicted of sexually assaulting her between 2011 and 2020 while she was under chemical submission. Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while sentences for other defendants ranged from three to 15 years imprisonment.
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The trial drew international attention after Gisèle Pelicot opposed a closed hearing, a demand made by several defendants. The court sided with her. The evidence included stomach-churning homemade videos of the abuse that Dominique Pelicot filmed in the couple’s home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere.
“I have nothing to be ashamed of. Shame must change sides,” she said on the trial’s opening day. After the verdict, she declared she had “never regretted that decision” and thanked supporters who gave her the “strength” to return to court each day.
