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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

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

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.