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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced 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 Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.