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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the first trial.