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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan 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 courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.