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A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the original case.