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A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

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

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.