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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon 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 refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the first trial.