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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused 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 rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood 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 school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.