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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife 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 culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” 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 never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.