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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? 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 the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed 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 spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.