🔗 Share this article

An individual has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed 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 allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated 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 final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.