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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in 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 abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.