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A man has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.