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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.