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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.