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An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.