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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 received his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.