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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his jail term raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

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

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught 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 laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.