Increased sentence for man who raped Gisele Pelicot after appealing his conviction

According to reports in the French media, the French appeals court sentenced the only man who appealed his conviction on the grounds that he raped Gisele Pelicot while she was drugged and unconscious, with an additional 10 years in prison.

44-year-old construction worker Hüsamettin Doğan was sentenced to nine years in prison last year in the first drug and rape case that excited France and turned Pelicot into a global symbol against sexual violence.

The appeal jury consisted of three judges and ordinary citizens.

The first hearing, which gave Doğan a lesser sentence, was heard by five judges.

The other 50 people convicted last December did not appeal the landmark verdict.

Among them was Dominique Pelicot, Gisèle Pelicot’s ex-husband, who made her unconscious by spiking her food and drink with drugs and propositioned her by filming his attacks on strangers he met online between 2011 and 2020.

Doğan was tried on charges of aggravated rape by administering substances that impair judgment or self-control; This crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The prosecutor in the appeal case asked for a 12-year prison sentence, French media reported from the courthouse in Nimes, southern France.

“It is not possible to think that he accepted it because he did not say anything in 2025. Because this kind of thinking belongs to another era!” The prosecutor told the court, according to Le Monde newspaper.

Doğan denied that he intended to rape Pelicot and claimed that he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot.

Dominique Pelicot was found guilty of all charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum possible sentence.

He accepted his role and did not object.

The sentences of the other convicts ranged from 3 to 15 years in prison.

One of them, with the help of Dominique Pelicot, was convicted of drugging and raping his own wife.

The trial attracted international attention after Gisele Pelicot opposed the closed hearing at the request of several defendants.

The court sided with him.

Her bravery inspired campaigners against sexual and sexist violence and the shocking case sparked a national reckoning over rape culture in France.

The evidence included sickening homemade videos of rape and assault that Dominique Pelicot had filmed at the couple’s home in the small Provencal town of Mazan and elsewhere.

The civil trial in the southern French city of Avignon will be held in November to seek compensation for compensation owed to Gisele Pelicot and her family, which will be paid jointly by the convicted men.