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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.