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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.