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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.