🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to 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 knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in 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 Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.