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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying 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 hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.