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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

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

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for 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 societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused 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 concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.