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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.