🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.