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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the 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 only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.