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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial 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 the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable 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 increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.