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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

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

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt 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.”

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

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

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 testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.