🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited 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 persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the midst of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, 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 regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the first trial.