🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and received his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated 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 societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed 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 Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father 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 caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the original case.