🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

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

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.