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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. 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 closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

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 court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.