Berliner Tageblatt - French court to rule in Gisele Pelicot rape appeal trial

The 72-year-old's former husband has admitted to drugging her with sedatives and inviting dozens of strangers to rape and abuse her over nearly a decade in a case that shocked the world.

Gisele Pelicot allowed the public into the courtroom during the initial months-long trial last year to raise awareness about sexual violence, saying it was time for perpetrators -- not victims -- to be ashamed.

But Husamettin Dogan, 44, has appealed his conviction for rape and nine-year prison sentence, saying he never intended to rape her and was "trapped" by her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot in 2019.

Gisele Pelicot told the court in the southern city of Nimes on Wednesday that Dogan had raped her and must "take responsibility" for his actions.

An investigator on Tuesday said that images of the abuse found on Dominique Pelicot's hard drive showed he had stayed at the house for at least "three hours and 24 minutes" -- not half an hour as he had claimed.

Footage shown to the court showed him penetrating an inert Gisele Pelicot.

Dogan risks a maximum of 20 years in jail.

But such a severe sentence is unlikely as it would put him on a par with Dominique Pelicot, who abused his wife and recruited dozens of strangers to do the same for almost a decade.

- 'Human rights are women's rights' -

Antoine Camus, one of Gisele Pelicot's lawyers, however argued that Dogan's sentence should be revised.

"You don't touch a sleeping victim," he said.

"We hope that this jury will say loud and clear that in France, human rights are also women's rights, that you cannot get consent from a husband, and that a sexual act imposed on a sleeping body is a rape," he added.

A panel of five judges issued the verdicts against Dominique Pelicot and his 50 co-defendants at the end of the trial last year in the southern city of Avignon.

But this time in Nimes, it will be up to a people's jury of five men and four women to decide on Dogan's fate, likely in the afternoon.

Last year, the prosecution had requested 12 years for Dogan.

Public prosecutor Laure Chabaud at the time had urged the judges in all cases to issue sentences that could be a "testament for future generations".

The other 49 men accused of abusing Gisele Pelicot received sentences ranging from three years in jail, including two suspended, to 15 years behind bars for a man who visited the Pelicot home six times.

Another man, who did not assault Gisele Pelicot but repeatedly abused his own wife with Dominique Pelicot's help, was sentenced to 12 years.

Gisele Pelicot on Wednesday called for "victims to never be ashamed of what was forced upon them".

G.Schulte--BTB