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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

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

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked 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 applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent 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 seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.