🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

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

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your case.”

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

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.