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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied 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 the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 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.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed 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 court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.