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An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the first trial.