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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

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

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed 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 Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

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 caretaker. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the first trial.