🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the original case.