🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, 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 drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.