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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the course of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

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

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. 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 narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son 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 sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.