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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.