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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the original case.