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A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, 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 four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.