🔗 Share this article

A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.