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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of 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 consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying 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 hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, 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 Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.