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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

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

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.