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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told 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 consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, 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 repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.