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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.