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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.