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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.