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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the first trial.