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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.