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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.