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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her 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 blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married 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 repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the original case.