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An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape 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 guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos 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 segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

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

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. 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 caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.