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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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 Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge 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 consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. 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 son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the first trial.