🔗 Share this article

An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

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

Defendant's Background

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 court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.