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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation 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: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.