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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

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

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him 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 son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.