🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly 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 seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.