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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

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

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the original case.