Nimes, France: Less than a year after the landmark verdict in a drugging and rape trial that shook France and turned Gisèle Pelicot into a global icon, she was greeted with applause on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) as she arrived at a courthouse for the appeal of a man challenging his conviction.

Husamettin Dogan, sentenced to nine years in prison last December, denies he intended to rape Pelicot. He argues that he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot, Gisèle Pelicot’s ex-husband, who drugged his wife and offered her to strangers online before filming the assaults.

The 44-year-old construction worker went on trial on Monday in Nimes, in southern France, on charges of aggravated rape by administering substances that impair judgement or self-control, an offence carrying up to 20 years in prison.

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