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A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.