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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

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

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.