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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.