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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.