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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out 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 living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.