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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.