🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

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

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son 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 intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.