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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded 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 individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, 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 intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the original case.