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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.