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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. 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 home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 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.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.