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An individual was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.