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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

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

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.