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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence 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 put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. 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 deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.