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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings 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 did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.