🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

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

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan 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 permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

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 violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the original case.