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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and received his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.