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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the original case.