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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals 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 marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.