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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” 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 rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.