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A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread 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 told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed 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 court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.