🔗 Share this article

An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced 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 blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms 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 invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.