🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused 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 knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the first trial.