🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.