French appeals court upholds and increases Dogan sentence to 10 years

A French appeals court on Thursday upheld and increased the prison term for Husamettin Dogan, the only man to pursue an appeal after last year’s landmark mass sexual assault trial, handing him a 10 year sentence for raping Gisèle Pelicot while she was drugged and unconscious. The court in Nîmes also ordered five years of mandatory treatment, concluding a four day retrial that drew renewed attention to a case that shocked France.

Dogan, a 44 year old construction worker, had been sentenced to nine years in December after a monthslong trial that convicted 51 men in connection with the systematic abuse of Pelicot between 2011 and 2020. Prosecutors in the appeal had sought a 12 year term, arguing that Dogan refused to accept responsibility. The appeals panel was composed of professional judges and citizen jurors.

At the retrial, prosecutors and investigators pointed to extensive material evidence recovered from the home of Pelicot’s former husband, Dominique Pelicot, who admitted drugging his wife and recruiting men online to assault her. Investigators said they found 107 photographs and 14 videos from the night Dogan visited the couple’s home in Mazan in June 2019. Video excerpts...