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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan 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 never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.