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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.