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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.