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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics 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 laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.