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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 raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the first trial.