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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the original case.