🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

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

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.