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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

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

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding 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 stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told 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 manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.