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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction 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, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “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 expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.