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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.