🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived 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, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

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 court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.