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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, 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 raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.