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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

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

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected 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 residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the midst of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.