🔗 Share this article

An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty 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 Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence 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 the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.