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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her spouse – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your case.”

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

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.