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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured 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 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.