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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.