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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

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

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the first trial.