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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’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,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 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.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.