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A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

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

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

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

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the original case.