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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

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

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

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up 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 the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the midst of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.