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An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation 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’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

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

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.