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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially 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 leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation 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’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.