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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.