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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse 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 the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer 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 marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.