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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.