Man contesting conviction for raping Gisèle Pelicot 'knew she was sedated'

Dominique Pelicot, who drugged his ex-wife Giséle Pelicot and invited dozens of strangers to rape her over almost a decade, has told a court that an unemployed builder who is appealing against his conviction knew she was sedated and came to their home deliberately to abuse her.

- Angelique Chrisafis

Husamettin Dogan, 44, was found guilty of raping Gisele Pelicot while she was unconscious in her own bed in June 2019. He is currently being tried on appeal in Nimes in southern France.

Pelicot said he met Dogan on a chatroom called “against her knowledge” and told him clearly that he drugged his then wife and was seeking men to come to rape her.

“He had that information from the start,’ Pelicot said, adding that he told Dogan by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge. They all knew, they all came with the same intention. I always said she was sedated”

Pelicot, 73, is one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history. He is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after crushing sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication into his then wife’s food and inviting dozens of men to rape her while she was unconscious in their bedroom in the Provence village of Mazan between 2011 and 2020.

For yesterday’s hearing, he was transported from a high-security prison in southern France, where he is currently in solitary confinement, to the Nimes appeals court to give evidence as a witness in a secure witness box, flanked by four police officers.