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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

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

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished 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: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.