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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed 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 injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking 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 a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the original case.