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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt 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 ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.