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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.