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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the original case.