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An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

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

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.