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

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher 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 residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.