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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received 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, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have 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: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

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

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.