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A man was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture 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 residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the first trial.