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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common 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.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.