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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent 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 the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.