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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told 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 wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage 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 residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the original case.