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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood 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 primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.