Gisele Pelicot returned to court on Monday (October 6) to face the only man, out of 51, who appealed his guilty verdict in a mass rape trial that shocked France and attracted worldwide attention last year.

Pelicot, 72, has become a feminist hero both at home and abroad for waiving her right to anonymity and standing up to her abusers in court, turning the trial into an examination of the pervasiveness of sexual violence.

Her case prompted deep soul-searching in France, spurring debate on whether to shift to a rape law based on consent and prompting the medical community to deepen its understanding of drug-facilitated assault.

Pelicot made no statement as she arrived at court and appeared composed. Several dozen people waited outside the court with banners showing her their support.

Dominique Pelicot, who admitted drugging his wife Gisele and over nearly a decade, recruiting dozens of men online to rape her while she was unconscious, was sentenced to 20 years in jail. All of the Frenchman's 50 co-defendants were also found guilty of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.

Among them, Husamettin Dogan, a former construction worker in his forties, was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of aggravated rape. An appeals court in the southern city of Nimes will hear his appeal up until Wednesday.

His lawyer Sylvie Menvielle said her client believed he was participating in a libertine threesome for which he didn't know at the time Gisele Pelicot had not given her consent, so he could not accept the guilty verdict.

"He was facing someone who was acting with extraordinary manipulation and perversity," Menvielle told Reuters, referring to Dominique Pelicot.

In French criminal law, intent is crucial in assessing guilt.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

NIMES, FRANCE (OCTOBER 6, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. GISELE PELICOT ARRIVING AT NIMES APPEALS COURT AS A WITNESS, ACCOMPANIED BY HER SON FLORIAN PELICOT (AT HER LEFT) AND HER LAWYER STEPHANE BABONNEAU (WALKING BEHIND), AND SURROUNDED BY POLICE

2. PELICOT ARRIVING AS SUPPORTERS APPLAUD

3. PELICOT SHAKING HANDS AND GREETING SUPPORTERS WITH FLORIAN PELICOT WITH HIS ARM AROUND HER, AND POLICE AROUND

4. PELICOT WALKING UP STAIRS TO APPEALS COURT

5. VARIOUS OF PELICOT INSIDE COURTHOUSE, WITH HER SON FLORIAN PELICOT

6. SIGN FOR APPEALS COURT ON COURTHOUSE EXTERIOR

7. VARIOUS OF ACCUSED, HUSAMETTIN DOGAN, WEARING SUN GLASSES, HAT AND MASK, ARRIVING IN COURT

8. EXTERIOR OF COURTHOUSE

9. WRITING FOR COURTHOUSE

10. VARIOUS OF COURT OFFICIALS AND LAWYERS GETTING READY FOR OPENING OF APPEALS CASE

11. VARIOUS OF ACCUSED, HUSAMETTIN DOGAN, ARRIVING IN COURTROOM, SITTING DOWN

12. LAWYERS FOR GISELE PELICOT STEPHANE BABONNEAU (LEFT) AND ANTOINE CAMUS IN COURTROOM

13. COURTROOM

14. GISELE PELICOT SUPPORTERS HOLDING BANNER, READING (French): "SUPPORT FOR GISELE"

15. PELICOT SUPPORTERS HOLDING BANNER, READING (French): "GISELE, WOMEN THANK YOU."

16. PELICOT SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE

17. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PELICOT SUPPORTER, AISSATA SOUMAH, SAYING:

"We came to show that we're still here. We are the Avignon Amazons, we were there for the trial in Avignon, and we're here on the day of the appeal even if there's only one accused."

18. SUPPORTER HOLDING POSTER READING: "JUSTICE!"

19. (SOUNDBITE) (French) PELICOT SUPPORTER, AISSATA SOUMAH, SAYING:

"I recognise her great courage and her strength and that's also why I support her."

20. LOCAL RESIDENTS LOOKING TOWARDS COURTHOUSE

21. POLICE OUTSIDE COURT