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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

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 parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.