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A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’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 drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your case.”

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

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure 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 father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.