Share
9th October 2025
05:05pm BST
A court in Southern France has handed a longer jail sentence to the only man who challenged his conviction in the Gisèle Pelicot rape trial.
The 72-year-old testified against her husband Dominique Pelicot, 72, who had drugged and raped her, in addition to inviting dozens of strangers to also abuse her over nearly a decade in the Avignon region of France.
Pelicot chose to waiver her anonymity in order to publicly testify against her husband and 50 other men in a mass-rape trial that shocked the world.
Husamettin Dogan, 44, was the only man to appeal his conviction of aggravated rape after the trial.
He argued that he was innocent, despite there being graphic video footage of him penetrating Gisèle while she was unconscious.
The court of appeal in Nîmes rejected his argument, and increased his nine-year sentence to 10 years.
Prosecutors had called for Dogan to be handed a 12-year term, and he argued that he had been 'trapped' by Dominique Pelicot and was himself a victim.
A total of 51 men were handed jail terms in the original trial, and 17 initially lodged appeals, however they soon withdrew them. Dogan was the only man to take his appeal to court.
Dogan's case argued that he did not know Gisèle was being drugged against her will, and therefore he could not be guilty of rape and was a victim himself.
"I performed a sexual act, I never raped anyone," he said. "For me, rape means forcing someone, tying them up, I don't know… I am a victim."
The Nîmes proceedings were effectively a retrial, and showed evidence including footage of Gisèle snoring and unconscious as she was being raped.
Dogan denied that he had any intention to rape Gisèle, but admitted it was clear she was a victim of her husband Dominique.
Dogan tried to shift blame onto Dominique, and said he had had "suspicions" about the situation.
"This guy is a manipulator," he said.
Dominique, who was a witness in the case, said he never pretended his wife would be anything but unconscious.
He said he had told Dogan explicitly that he was looking for "someone to abuse my sleeping wife without her knowledge", and that all the men involved "were told she would be drugged".