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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen 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 early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.