Dominique Pelicot, one of France's worst sex offenders, took the stand Tuesday to push back against the only man to appeal a conviction for raping Pelicot's ex-wife while she was drugged, saying he knew exactly what he was doing.
For more than a decade, Pelicot recruited dozens of strangers to abuse his then-wife, Gisele Pelicot. Last year, during the trial of him and 50 other men accused alongside him, Gisele Pelicot waived her anonymity, becoming an international symbol in the fight against sexual violence.
Now one of the men convicted in that trial, Husamettin Dogan, is seeking to overturn that ruling.
But Dominique Pelicot told the court Tuesday that Dogan, who had been sentenced to nine years in prison, had been a willing participant in his scheme.
"I never forced anyone, they never needed me," Dominique Pelicot, 72, said in court on the second day of the trial in the southern city of Nimes.
He said that Dogan knew from the start that Dominique Pelicot was looking for someone "to abuse (his) wife while she was asleep."
Dogan, 44, protests his innocence, saying he was not a "rapist" and insisting he thought he was participating in a libertine couple's sexual game on June 28, 2019.
"I never said that," said Dominique Pelicot, who wore a grey jacket and white and blue polo and glanced at his former wife occasionally.
She did not visibly react as Dominique Pelicot spoke, while Dogan sat with his shoulders slumped and arms folded.
Dominique Pelicot was looking for men to sexually abuse his wife on the adult site Coco.fr, which has since been shut down by the authorities.
He said that Dogan presented himself as "Karim BM" ("Karim well endowed") and later visited the couple at their home in the southern town of Mazan.
Dominique Pelicot gave Dogan precise instructions, telling him to undress, not to smoke, and to wash his hands with hot water.
"He saw a camera on a tripod and had no doubt that he was being filmed," he said, adding that Dogan did all sorts of "things" to his wife.
He also said Dogan had even asked him to lift his inert wife's leg to "help him penetrate her from the side."
Earlier Tuesday investigator Jeremie Bosse-Platiere also took apart Dogan's arguments, citing video footage of the abuse recorded by Dominique Pelicot.
"I have no doubt that he was fully aware of the victim's condition," he said.
"Anyone who sees the videos understands this immediately."
Dominique Pelicot would meticulously record the assaults on his sedated wife.
Investigators found a total of 107 photos and 14 videos from the night Dogan visited the couple.
Some videos show Dogan penetrating an inert Gisele Pelicot and also trying to force her to perform oral sex on him.
The police commissioner described a video in which Gisele Pelicot was seen moving slightly and Dogan immediately withdrawing.
"We understand that he is worried that his victim might wake up and freezes in a waiting position," said Bosse-Platiere.
"After 30 seconds, seeing that it was a reflex caused by pain or discomfort, he reintroduces his penis into her vagina."
"It is clear that the two men are acting very cautiously and meticulously so as not to make any noise," the investigator said.
"They whisper so as not to startle the victim and are clearly intent on not waking her up."
Dogan claims he stayed at the couple's home for just half an hour, but the investigator said he had remained at the scene for "at least 3 hours and 24 minutes", according to the video timeline.
While the investigator said that Dominique Pelicot might have been "a little bossy", he said there were "no physical coercion, no threat that is supported by the videos."
Dominique Pelicot has not appealed his 20-year prison sentence.
Gisele Pelicot, 72, is set to take the stand on Wednesday morning. The verdict is expected later that day or Thursday.
