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A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the first trial.