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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his jail term raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated 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 say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence 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 individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the first trial.