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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.