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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. 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 house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.