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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.