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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the original case.