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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced 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 town 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 the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, 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

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much 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 Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.