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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told 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 told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, 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, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.