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A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious 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 blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

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

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.