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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial 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 raping the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

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

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the first trial.