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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.