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An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against 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 Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told 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 sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.