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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

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 rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, 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 regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.