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A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.