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An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty 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 Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

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 caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually 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 first trial.