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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused 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 put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

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 testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.