🔗 Share this article

A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.