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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.