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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.