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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’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 informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.