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A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.