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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

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

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

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 evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.