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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

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

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious 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 engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.