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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied 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 allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

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 building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.