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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.