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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.