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A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.