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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

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

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.