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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.