🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

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

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.