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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a period 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 incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.