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An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.