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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common 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 told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.