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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing 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 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 frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.