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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated 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: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.