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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. 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 deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife 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 way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.