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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to support her, told the defendant 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? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.