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A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

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

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, 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

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer 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 educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.