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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of 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 violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.