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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, 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 permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.