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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

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

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

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

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer 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 strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.