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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning 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 online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.