🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

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

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.