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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.