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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.