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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.