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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.