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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness 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 “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.