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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.