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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? 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: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.