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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.