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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.