🔗 Share this article

An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his jail term increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot 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, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the first trial.