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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing 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 a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.