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An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding 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.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

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

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the first trial.