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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting 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 family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.