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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging 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 span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.