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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.