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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town 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 Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed 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 sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.