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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.