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A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage 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 did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

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

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.