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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

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 parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

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 evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.