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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared 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 deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.