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An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.