Gisèle Pelicot returns to courtroom to face one in every of males convicted of raping her

[ad_1] Gisèle Pelicot, who survived virtually a decade of rape involving dozens of males after she was drugged by her ex-husband, has arrived at a courtroom in France for the enchantment trial of one of many males convicted of raping her.

Pelicot turned a feminist hero after she determined to waive her proper to anonymity within the trial of her former husband and 50 other men final yr.

The 72-year-old arrived on the appeals courtroom within the southern French metropolis of Nîmes on Monday along with her youngest son, Florian, and shook fingers with supporters.

Her lawyer, Antoine Camus, had mentioned she would have most well-liked to not face the ordeal of attending one other trial however can be current in courtroom nonetheless. “She will likely be there to elucidate {that a} rape is a rape, that there is no such thing as a such factor as a small rape,” Camus instructed Agence France-Presse.

Husamettin Dogan, 44, a builder who was sentenced to 9 years in jail for raping Pelicot, has appealed in opposition to his conviction.

Dogan, who arrived on the courtroom strolling with a crutch and overlaying his face with sun shades and a Covid masks, spoke to verify his identify and date of beginning. He mentioned he at the moment had no career.

9 jurors have been chosen - 5 males and 4 girls - who will sit with three judges.

Dogan’s first trial final yr heard he had made contact along with her then husband, Dominique Pelicot , in a chatroom and drove to the couple’s dwelling the identical night time in June 2019, telling his spouse he was going out. He was convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot whereas she was unconscious.

Dogan instructed the primary trial he thought it was only a sport. “I’m not a rapist, that’s too heavy for me to bear,” he mentioned. His lawyer declined to remark earlier than the enchantment trial.

At first, 17 of the 51 convicted males mentioned they might enchantment in opposition to the decision, however 16 steadily dropped out, leaving solely Dogan.

Dominique Pelicot, one of many worst intercourse offenders in trendy French historical past, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging his then spouse and alluring dozens of males to rape her in her dwelling within the south of France over a interval of just about a decade of their marriage.

Final yr’s trial in Avignon heard that Dominique Pelicot had crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medicine into Gisèle Pelicot’s mashed potato, espresso or ice-cream and invited dozens of males to rape her within the village of Mazan in south-east France, the place the couple had retired. A complete of fifty different males have been discovered responsible.

Now serving a jail sentence in solitary confinement, Dominique Pelicot will seem as a witness on the enchantment courtroom trial. He's anticipated to repeat what he mentioned on the first trial: “I'm a rapist and all of the accused males on this room are rapists.”

Gisèle Pelicot , a former logistics supervisor, had insisted the primary rape trial in 2024 be held in public to boost consciousness of drug-induced rape and abuse. “It’s not for us to have disgrace, it’s for them,” she mentioned in courtroom.