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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence 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 town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the process of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.