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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

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 consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.