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A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the original case.