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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term extended to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told 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 put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.