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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. 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 brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer 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 way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the original case.