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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.