🔗 Share this article

A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

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 building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.