🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told 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 rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.