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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half 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 given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced 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 court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.