Overview

• Husamettin Dogan, 44, the only one of 51 convicted men to maintain an appeal, contests both his guilt and the nine-year sentence handed down in December 2024.
• The retrial runs October 6–9 before three magistrates and nine lay jurors, a shorter, jury-based format compared with the four-month professional-judge trial in Avignon.
• Proceedings begin Monday at 14:00; Dominique Pelicot is slated to testify Tuesday afternoon and Gisèle Pelicot is scheduled to speak Wednesday morning.
• Defense lawyers say Dogan believed he was joining a consensual encounter arranged online, while prosecutors and Dominique Pelicot assert participants knew a sedated woman would be raped, with recordings available to the court.
• Forensic evaluations report no diminished responsibility for Dogan, media presence is far smaller than in 2024 with about 75 accreditations, and the verdict is expected Wednesday evening or Thursday if timing slips.