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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “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 expect the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.