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A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy 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 incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony 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 rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.