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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the first trial.