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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the first trial.