🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a period of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. 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 allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in 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 Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.