🔗 Share this article

An individual has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood 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 principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.