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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in 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 guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system 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 parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.