NEED TO KNOW
- Gisèle Pelicot appeared at the appeal trial of one of the men convicted of raping her
- 51 men had previously been convicted in connection with the rapes of Pelicot, whose husband admitted to drugging her and inviting dozens of men to have sex with her over the course of a decade
- Pelicot confronted the man in court, saying she never gave consent
Gisèle Pelicot, the French woman whose husband drugged her and invited dozens of men to have sex with her over the course of a decade, appeared in court at the appeal trial of one of the men previously convicted of raping her.
The New York Times, Le Monde and The Guardian reported that the man, Husamettin Dogan, 44, denies having raped Pelicot, despite being convicted of the crime. His appeal trial is being held in Nîmes, France, according to the papers.
Pelicot’s husband, Dominique, previously admitted to having drugged her before facilitating the rapes. 51 men were convicted on charges related to the rapes, Dogan being one of them.
Le Monde reported that Dogan, who was previously sentenced to nine years in prison, said in court on Wednesday, Oct. 8 that he had been “trapped” by Dominique.
“I wanted to stop,” Dogan said, according to the paper. “At one point, I became very suspicious. I continued because he reassured me. He’s the manipulator, not me. He’s the one who lured me there.”
Le Monde further reported that the day before, Dominique denied having ever forced anyone to commit rape.
“I never forced anyone,” Dominique reportedly said, adding that Dogan knew his wife would be “asleep.”
The Guardian reported that Dogan denies having committed rape and calls videos of the encounter “sex scenes.”
But appearing in court, Pelicot strongly pushed back on Dogan’s claims.
“This is not a sex scene, it is rape,” she said, according to The Guardian. “And without a condom.”
At one point, the paper reported, Pelicot turned directly to Dogan in court.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
“You haven’t understood,” she reportedly said. “When are you going to recognize you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”
The rapes were discovered in 2020 when Dominique’s phones, cameras and electronic devices were seized after he was accused of having filmed up the skirts of three women in supermarkets.
Police found 20,000 videos and photographs documenting the rapes, dating back to 2011, the paper reported.
Read the full article here