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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant 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 conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the original case.