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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.