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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region 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 briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe 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 societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.