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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty 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, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.