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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the first trial.