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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the original case.