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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the original case.