A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term extended to a decade.
Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.
A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.
The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.
We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”
Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.
Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.
The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.
The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.
Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” 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 knowledge.”
The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms 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 invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.
The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.
The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”
Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”
The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”
The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”
Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”
Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”
The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”
The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.
He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.
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