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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan 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 told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’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,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.