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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

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

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.