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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in 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 evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.