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A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

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

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker 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 spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.