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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the midst of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

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

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.