🔗 Share this article

An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged 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, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” 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 brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system 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 father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian 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 method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.