🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the original case.