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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed 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 individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.