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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the original case.