🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.