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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty 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, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the first trial.