🔗 Share this article

A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.