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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating 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 nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused 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 put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the original case.