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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time 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 Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.