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Summary
Husamettin Dogan, a 44-year-old Turkish-born father convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot, has had his prison sentence increased from nine to ten years by a court in southern France on October 9, 2025.
Husamettin Dogan, age 44, who was convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot in December 2024, has now had his prison sentence increased from nine to ten years by a court in southern France on October 9, 2025.
Husamettin Dogan, a Turkish-born married father, decided to take his appeal to court. He was previously convicted of aggravated rape during a trial in which 50 other men were convicted.
Dogan challenged the court sentence, arguing that he was innocent and was trapped by Dominque Pelicot.
Dogan’s defence was that he could not be guilty of raping Gisèle because he did not know Gisèle had been drugged by her husband against her will.
“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.”
A public prosecutor by the name Dominique Sié demanded that the court impose a 12-year term on Dogan, because Dogan was unwilling to take responsibility for his actions.
Dogan claimed Dominique was a manipulator because he was suspicious, but Dominique denied Dogan claim because he had never pretended his wife would be anything but unconscious.
All the men he recruited on chatrooms “were told she would be drugged,” Pelicot said, adding he had explicitly told Dogan he was looking for “someone to abuse my sleeping wife without her knowledge.”
The court of appeal in Nîmes rejected Dogan’s argument and extended his original nine-year jail term to 10 years.
Gisele Pelicot was drugged unconscious by her ex-husband, Dominique, for over a decade and raped by dozens of men he recruited on the internet.
A 2023 report from France’s Ministry for Gender Equality revealed that police recorded 37,693 complaints of rape against women across the country. In total, 84,500 individuals were identified as victims of sexual violence (including rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault).
