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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.