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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and has had his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.