The Gard Appeal Court on Thursday sentenced Husamettin Dogan to ten years in prison for the rape of Gisèle Pélicot, upholding the prosecution’s request.
The 44-year-old former factory worker was the only one of fifty men convicted in the so-called Mazan gang rape case to appeal. His sentence is now three years longer than the nine years handed down at the initial trial in Avignon in December 2024.
A man in denial
Throughout the appeal trial, Husamettin Dogan continued to deny any intent to rape.
Found guilty of assaulting Gisèle Pélicot while she was unconscious, he claimed he believed he was taking part in a “libertine” encounter.
“If he had told me, ‘Come, we’re going to film it, we’re going to rape her,’ I would never have gone,” he told the court, portraying himself as a victim manipulated by Dominique Pélicot, the victim’s husband, who was sentenced in 2024 to twenty years for drugging his wife and arranging her assaults by strangers.
The jury was unconvinced.
Videos shown in court depicted Gisèle Pélicot, motionless and drugged without her knowledge, as Dogan penetrated her without resistance — footage described as “chilling” by several observers.
A relentless closing argument
Prosecutor Dominique Sié denounced the accused’s persistent denial in a powerful address to the court.
“You took part in a massive work of destruction against a woman offered up as prey,” he said.
“As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not only a woman you humiliate, it’s an entire society you condone.”
The prosecutor described Dogan as “a man trapped in a mindset from another age,” unable to grasp the seriousness of his acts.
He called for a broader shift in awareness:
“It is time to transform, for you and for society, the culture of rape into a culture of consent.”
Sié stressed Dogan’s personal responsibility, adding that “consent cannot be delegated, assumed, or bought.”
“A mindset from another age”
According to those present in court, Husamettin Dogan remained expressionless throughout the hearings, portraying himself as misunderstood rather than guilty.
His attitude was described by the prosecution as “despairing.”
“In 2025, we cannot still believe that silence means agreement. That belongs to a mindset from another age,” Sié declared.
Civil party lawyers Antoine Camus and Babonneau urged the court to confirm Dogan’s conviction.
“You don’t touch a sleeping woman,” Camus said, noting that the Pélicot case helped push France to clarify its law on consent.
“I am ashamed of you”
At the end of the hearing, Gisèle Pélicot addressed the accused directly:
“At what moment did I ever give you my consent? Never. I am ashamed of you.”
The courtroom fell silent.
The jury — five men, four women, and three professional judges — did not follow the prosecution’s recommendations ( 12 years).
Verdict: tenyears in prison.
The decision closes one of the most emblematic chapters of the Mazan trial, a case that has become a landmark in the fight against chemical submission and for the recognition of consent as a cornerstone of justice.