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A man was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone 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 educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the original case.