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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. 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 allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread 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.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.