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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor 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: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the original case.