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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, 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 declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’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,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.