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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

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 midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.