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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the original case.