🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.