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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to 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 put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.