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

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. 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 house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.