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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with 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 court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.