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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.