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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.