🔗 Share this article

An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared 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 deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the original case.