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A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

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

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from 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 parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer 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 wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.