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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction 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 raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades 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 the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known 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 without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.