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An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

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

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.