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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 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 Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

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

Legal Commentary

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

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.