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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told 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 never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to back her, told 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? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the first trial.