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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state 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 inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have 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: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent 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 wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.