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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his jail term extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.