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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity 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: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.