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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.