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A defendant was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.