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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

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

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.