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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture 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 ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the first trial.