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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

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

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife 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 stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the original case.