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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.