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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied 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 Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a court psychologist that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the first trial.