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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy 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 refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of 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 parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

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 evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the original case.