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A man 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 a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

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

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.