Overview

• Gisèle Pelicot attended the opening of the public hearing and is scheduled to testify on Wednesday, with her ex-husband Dominique Pelicot to appear as a witness on Tuesday.
• Husamettin D., 44, is the only one of 51 men convicted in the Avignon trial to maintain an appeal after receiving a nine-year prison term.
• The appellant told the court he never intended to rape and says he believed the encounter was consensual role-play, denying knowledge of any drugging.
• The Nîmes assize court set a brief hearing of roughly three days with a jury, drawing visible support from women’s rights demonstrators outside the courthouse.
• The landmark case, uncovered in 2020 through digital evidence, has fueled proposals in France to define consent as explicit, voluntary and conscious and to expand victim supports such as free forensic toxicology tests and hospital reporting options.