🔗 Share this article

An individual was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage 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 brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.