🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

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

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration 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 doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

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

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of 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 smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.