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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied 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 evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating 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 recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your case.”

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

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.