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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration 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 consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer 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 marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.