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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.