🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband 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 country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term 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 almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, 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

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking 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 special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.