🔗 Share this article

A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. 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 had no desire to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.