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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife 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.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.