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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial 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 Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

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

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse 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. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the first trial.