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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.