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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

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

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring 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 risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured 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 applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.